David Whitney Erskine Russell, 5th Baron Ampthill (born 27 May 1947), is the son of

Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill, (15 October 1921 – 23 April 2011), was a British hereditary peer and businessman, whose paternity and succession to the peerage were famously disputed in the " Ampthill baby case". His fath ...

, and was educated at

Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...

. He served as a councillor on

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

Town Council from July 2003 until April 2013, and currently serves as a Conservative councillor on

Rother Rother may refer to: General *Rother (surname) (also sometimes spelled Röther) *Rother District, a local government district in East Sussex, England *Rother FM, an independent local radio station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England *Rother Kup ...

District Council. He previously served on

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

Town Council and held the post of Mid Sussex District Council Cabinet Member for Community Development. Before entering politics, Russell enjoyed a career in publishing.

Personal life

By first wife, April McKenzie Arbon, he has two daughters. He is currently married to his second wife, Christia Ipsen (b. 1949), widow of Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich Romanov (1938–1999).

Succession to baronial title

He succeeded his father as

Baron Ampthill Baron Ampthill, of Ampthill in the County of Bedfordshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 March 1881 for the diplomat Lord Odo Russell. He was the third son of Major-General Lord George Russell, second son o ...

in April 2011; the title had been created for his great-great-grandfather,

Lord Odo Russell Odo William Leopold Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill, (20 February 182925 August 1884), styled Lord Odo Russell between 1872 and 1881, was a British diplomat and the first List of diplomats from the United Kingdom to Germany, British Ambassador to t ...

, who represented Britain unofficially at the Vatican and officially at Berlin; Lord Odo's uncle was Lord John Russell, who was twice Prime Minister and whose grandson was

Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...

, the eminent 20th century philosopher.

References

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Rye Town Council
1947 births Living people People educated at Stowe School 5 Councillors in East Sussex Councillors in West Sussex D Conservative Party (UK) hereditary peers Eldest sons of British hereditary barons {{UK-baron-stub