Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford

Admiral of the Fleet
The Right Honourable
The Earl of Orford
JP, PC
Admiral of the Fleet ; The Right Honourable The Earl of Orford JP, PC
	Admiral Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, Thomas Gibson
First Lord of the Admiralty
	In office; 1694 to 1699 – 1709 to 1710 – 1714 to 1717
Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire
	In office; 1715–1727
Member of Parliament; for Cambridgeshire
	In office; November 1695 – May 1697
Member of Parliament; for Portsmouth
	In office; March 1690 – October 1695
Treasurer of the Navy
	In office; 1689–1699
Member of Parliament; for Launceston
	In office; January 1689 – February 1689
Personal details
Born	10 February 1657; Chiswick, London, England
Died	26 November 1727 (aged 70); Covent Garden, London, England
Resting place	St Michael's, Chenies
Political party	Whig
Spouse	Lady Margaret Russell
Alma mater	St John's College, Cambridge
Occupation	Sailor and politician
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of England; Kingdom of Great Britain
Branch/service	Royal Navy (1664–1707) ; Royal Navy (1707–1717)
Years of service	1666–1717
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands	Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet ; Phoenix; Reserve; Defiance; Swiftsure; Newcastle
Battles/wars	Third Anglo-Dutch War; Battle of Solebay ; Nine Years' War ; Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue

Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, PC (1653 – 26 November 1727) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of Solebay during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, he served as a captain in the Mediterranean Sea in operations against the Barbary pirates.

Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the Invitation to William, a document asking Prince William of Orange to depose King James II. Based in the Netherlands, he served as Prince William's secretary during the planning of William's invasion of England and subsequent Glorious Revolution. He was fully engaged in providing naval support for the Williamite War in Ireland until the war ended. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-Dutch force that fought the French fleet at the Battle of Barfleur and destroyed much of it in a night attack at the Battle of La Hogue during the Nine Years' War.

Russell went on to be First Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of William III and then held the office twice again in the reigns of Queen Anne and King George I. He was also MP for Launceston, for Portsmouth and then for Cambridgeshire.

Early career

The Battle of Solebay, where Russell saw action as a junior officer

Born the son of the Hon. Edward Russell, a younger son of the 4th Earl of Bedford and Penelope Russell (née Hill), daughter of Sir Moyses Hill of Hillsborough, County Down and widow of Sir William Brooke, Russell briefly attended St John's College, Cambridge and joined the Royal Navy in 1666.[1][2] Promoted to lieutenant in 1671, he was appointed to the fourth-rate HMS Advice and then transferred to the third-rate HMS Rupert and saw action, when a combined British and French fleet was surprised and attacked by the Dutch, led by Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, at the Battle of Solebay off the Suffolk coast in May 1672, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.[2]

Promoted to captain on 10 June 1672, Russell was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Phoenix and then transferred to the command of the fourth-rate HMS Reserve in the Mediterranean, in operations against the Barbary pirates in February 1675, then to the command of the third-rate HMS Defiance in December 1677. He then moved to the third-rate HMS Swiftsure in March 1678 and then to the fourth-rate HMS Newcastle in August 1680.[2] In 1683 he ceased to be employed, as all of the members of the Russell family had fallen into disfavour with the King, after the discovery of Lord Russell's connection with the Rye House Plot.[2]

Senior command

Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the Invitation to William, a document asking William, Prince of Orange, to depose King James II in June 1688. Based in the Netherlands, he served as the prince's secretary during the planning of William's invasion of England and subsequent Glorious Revolution in November 1688.[2]

Russell was elected Whig Member of Parliament for Launceston and appointed Treasurer of the Navy in 1689.[3] Promoted directly to full admiral in May 1689, Russell took command in the Channel, with his flag in the second-rate HMS Duke, in 1689 and enforced a blockade of France.[2] Russell lived at Chippenham Park in Cambridgeshire from 1689 until his death. He re-modelled the manor house and greatly extended Chippenham Park, which still dominates the parish to the south of the village.[4]

Russell was elected Member of Parliament for Portsmouth in the general election in March 1690. He conveyed Maria Anna of Neuburg, Charles II of Spain's future consort, from Flushing to Coruna in Spring 1690.[2] He joined the Board of Admiralty led by the Earl of Pembroke, as Senior Naval Lord,[5] in June 1690.[6] Following the debacle at the Battle of Beachy Head in July 1690, Admiral the Earl of Torrington fell out of favour and Russell, having been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, became Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in December 1690. He was fully engaged in providing naval support for the Williamite War in Ireland until the war ended in October 1691.[2]

The Battle of Barfleur, where Russell commanded the English fleet

In the Autumn of 1690, Russell blamed the Dutch for the failure of the allies to enforce the blockade of France and was forced to stand down as a Lord Commissioner in January 1691.[6] Flying his flag in the first-rate HMS Britannia, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-Dutch force that fought the French fleet at the Battle of Barfleur in May 1692, during the Nine Years' War. At about 10 am the French Admiral the Comte de Tourville, with his flag in the French ship Soleil Royal, attacked Russell's flagship but around 1 pm, Tourville was forced to disengage with extensive damage to his rigging and sails.[7] Russell then destroyed much of the French fleet, in a night attack at the Battle of La Hogue in June 1692.[2]

Following a disagreement with the Earl of Nottingham, Russell resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in December 1692. Admirals Henry Killigrew, Ralph Delaval and Cloudesley Shovell were put in joint command of the fleet in January 1693. Following the disastrous attack on the Smyrna merchantmen at the Battle of Lagos in June 1693, all three admirals were dismissed from their joint command and Russell resumed command of the fleet in November 1693.[3]

Chippenham Park, Russell's home in Cambridgeshire

Russell became First Lord of the Admiralty and Senior Naval Lord[5] in the First Whig Junto in May 1694 and took a fleet out into the Mediterranean in June 1694, becoming the first English naval commander to spend the Winter at Cádiz (rather than sailing his squadron home in the autumn). He was elected Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire in 1695 and was created Baron Shingay, Viscount Barfleur and Earl of Orford on 7 May 1697.[8] He faced allegations of having misappropriated funds from the maintenance of the fleet, to spend on his private estates in 1698.[9] The accusations went no further and he left office as First Lord of the Admiralty, as Treasurer of the Navy and as Senior Naval Lord, when the First Whig Junto fell from power in May 1699.[6] He commissioned the building of Orford House at Ugley in Essex in 1700.[10]

Russell returned to office as First Lord in the coalition Godolphin–Marlborough ministry in November 1709 but left his post when the Tory-dominated Harley ministry came to power in October 1710.[3] He was appointed for a third time as First Lord in the Whig Townshend ministry in October 1714 and having been appointed Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire on 27 September 1715, left his post again when that ministry left office in April 1717.[6][11] He died at Covent Garden in London on 26 November 1727 and was buried in the Russell vault at St Michael's Church in Chenies.[2]

Family

In November 1691, Russell married his cousin, Lady Margaret Russell, youngest daughter of the 5th Earl of Bedford (later the 1st Duke of Bedford); they had no children.[2] They lived from the time of their marriage until Russell's death at 43 King Street, Covent Garden.[12][13]

Painting by Godfrey Kneller showing Orford (left) with Admiral John Benbow and Admiral Ralph Delaval

References

Venn, John (15 September 2011). Alumni Cantabrigienses. Vol. 1. University of Cambridge. p. 499. ISBN 9781108036092. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
"Edward Russell". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24304. Retrieved 27 May 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
"Edward Russell". History of Parliament. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely. Vol. 10. 2002. pp. 370–374.
Rodger, p. 34
"Sainty, J. C., Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660–1870, Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660–1870 (1975), pp. 18–31". Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
Parry, p. 103
Russell, p. 99
Gorton, p. 808
Historic England. "Orford House (1221630)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
"No. 5368". The London Gazette. 27 September 1715. p. 2.
"The Piazza: Notable private residents in the Piazza". British History Online. Institute of Historical Reseacrh, University of London. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
"Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden". British History Online. Institute of Historical Reseacrh, University of London. Retrieved 18 November 2018.

Sources

Gorton, John (1830). A general biographical dictionary: containing a summary account of the lives of eminent persons. Whittaker, Treacher & Co. OCLC 776199633.
Parry, John Docwra (1831). History and description of Woburn and its abbey, etc. London, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. OCLC 32255781.
Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Offices of State. Lavenham: T. Dalton Ltd. ISBN 0900963948.
Russell, Lady Rachel (1826). Letters of Lady Rachel Russell, Manuscript in the Library at Woburn Abbey. J. F. Dove.

External links

Edward Russell Three Decks
Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Russell, Edward (1653-1727)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 49. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

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[1] Venn, John (15 September 2011). Alumni Cantabrigienses. Vol. 1. University of Cambridge. p. 499. ISBN 9781108036092. Retrieved 30 May 2015.

[odnb-2] "Edward Russell". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/24304. Retrieved 27 May 2015. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[parl-3] "Edward Russell". History of Parliament. Retrieved 27 May 2015.

[victoria-4] A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely. Vol. 10. 2002. pp. 370–374.

[rodger-5] Rodger, p. 34

[sainty-6] "Sainty, J. C., Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660–1870, Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660–1870 (1975), pp. 18–31". Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2015.

[7] Parry, p. 103

[8] Russell, p. 99

[9] Gorton, p. 808

[10] Historic England. "Orford House (1221630)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 May 2015.

[11] "No. 5368". The London Gazette. 27 September 1715. p. 2.

[12] "The Piazza: Notable private residents in the Piazza". British History Online. Institute of Historical Reseacrh, University of London. Retrieved 10 November 2018.

[13] "Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden". British History Online. Institute of Historical Reseacrh, University of London. Retrieved 18 November 2018.

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First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy
Senior Naval Lords (1689–1771)	Arthur Herbert Sir John Chicheley Edward Russell Henry Priestman Earl of Orford Sir George Rooke Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Matthew Aylmer Sir George Byng Sir John Jennings Sir John Norris Sir Charles Wager Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Harry Powlett Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen John Forbes Earl Howe Sir Charles Saunders Augustus Keppel Sir Peircy Brett Sir Francis Holburne
First Naval Lords (1771–1904)	Augustus Hervey Sir Hugh Palliser Robert Man George Darby Sir Robert Harland Sir Hugh Pigot John Leveson-Gower Lord Hood Sir Charles Middleton James Gambier Sir Thomas Troubridge James Gambier John Markham James Gambier Sir Richard Bickerton William Domett Sir Joseph Yorke Sir Graham Moore Sir William Johnstone Hope Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr
First Sea Lords (1904–present)	Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope Sir George Zambellas Sir Philip Jones Sir Antony Radakin Sir Ben Key

First Lords of the Admiralty
of England	The Earl of Portland The Earl of Lindsey William Juxon, Bishop of Lincoln The Earl of Northumberland The Lord Cottington Sir Henry Capell The Earl of Nottingham The Earl of Torrington The Earl of Pembroke The Lord Cornwallis The Viscount Falkland The Earl of Orford The Earl of Bridgewater The Earl of Pembroke
of Great Britain	The Earl of Orford Sir John Leake The Earl of Strafford The Earl of Orford The Earl of Berkeley The Viscount Torrington Sir Charles Wager The Earl of Winchilsea The Duke of Bedford The Earl of Sandwich The Lord Anson The Earl Temple The Earl of Winchilsea The Lord Anson The Earl of Halifax George Grenville The Earl of Sandwich The Earl of Egmont Sir Charles Saunders Sir Edward Hawke The Earl of Sandwich The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Viscount Keppel The Viscount Howe The Earl of Chatham The Earl Spencer
of the United Kingdom	The Earl of St Vincent The Viscount Melville The Lord Barham Viscount Howick Thomas Grenville The Lord Mulgrave Charles Philip Yorke The Viscount Melville The Duke of Clarence The Viscount Melville Sir James Graham, Bt The Lord Auckland The Earl de Grey The Lord Auckland The Earl of Minto The Earl of Haddington The Earl of Ellenborough The Earl of Auckland Sir Francis Baring, Bt The Duke of Northumberland Sir James Graham, Bt Sir Charles Wood, Bt Sir John Pakington, Bt The Duke of Somerset Sir John Pakington, Bt Henry Lowry-Corry Hugh Childers George Goschen George Ward Hunt William Henry Smith Smith The Earl of Northbrook Lord George Hamilton The Marquess of Ripon Lord George Hamilton The Earl Spencer George Goschen The Earl of Selborne The Earl Cawdor The Lord Tweedmouth Reginald McKenna Winston Churchill Arthur Balfour Sir Edward Carson Sir Eric Geddes Walter Long The Viscount Lee of Fareham Wood Anderson Leo Amery The Viscount Chelmsford The Viscount Bridgeman A. V. Alexander Sir Austen Chamberlain The Viscount Monsell Sir Samuel Hoare, Bt Duff Cooper The Earl Stanhope Winston Churchill A. V. Alexander Brendan Bracken A. V. Alexander The Viscount Hall Lord Pakenham Viscount Cilcennin The Viscount Hailsham The Earl of Selkirk The Lord Carrington The Earl Jellicoe