Lord Arthur Russell

Who was Lord Arthur Russell?

Lord Arthur John Edward Russell was a British politician.

He was born in London on 14 June 1825, the second of three sons of Major-General Lord George William Russell and Elizabeth Anne Rawdon, daughter of the Hon. John Theophilus Rawdon, himself second son of the 1st Earl of Moira. His elder brother was Francis, later 9th Duke of Bedford and his younger brother was Odo, later 1st Baron Ampthill.

He was educated in Germany and from 1849 to 1854 he was private Secretary to his uncle, the Liberal Prime Minister Lord John Russell. Between 1857 and 1885, he sat as Member of Parliament for Tavistock. He only spoke rarely in the Commons, once in reply to an attack on his brother Odo.

On 25 September 1865, Russell married Laura de Peyronnet, daughter of Paul Louis Jules, Vicomte de Peyronnet. They had six children, the diplomat Claud Russell, three other sons and two daughters.

He was raised to the rank of a Duke's son on 25 June 1872 and was then known as Lord Arthur Russell.

He was a great clubman and belonged to Brooks's, the Athenaeum, the Cosmopolitan, Grillion's, THE CLUB, and the Metaphysical Society. He was involved in the Senate of the University of London, serving on this body from 1875 to his death.