John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford

Who was John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford?

John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford KG, PC, FRS was an 18th-century British statesman. He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey. Known as Lord John Russell, he married in October 1731 Diana Spencer, daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland; became Duke of Bedford on his brother’s death a year later; and having lost his first wife in 1735 married in April 1737 Lady Gertrude Leveson-Gower, daughter of John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower.