Major-General Francis Shirley Russell (1840 – 18 March 1912) was a British soldier and politician. Born into a prominent

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

family, Russell was educated at Radley College, and then at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

, from which he graduated in 1862. He then joined the

14th Hussars The 14th King's Hussars was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the World War I, First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th ...

cornet The cornet (, ) is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B, though there is also a sopr ...

on 6 February 1863, was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

on 23 August 1864, and to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on 13 June 1868. From 1869 to 1870 he served as an aide-de-camp in Ireland, and from 1873 to 1874 in the Ashanti Campaign. In 1875, Russell joined the staff of the

Royal Military College Royal Military College may refer to: ;Australia * Royal Military College, Duntroon, Campbell, Australian Capital Territory ;Canada * Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario * Royal Military College Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean, Quebec ;Mala ...

, as an inspector in tactics, then in 1878 he moved to the

Intelligence Branch The Intelligence Branch (french: links=no, Branche du service du renseignement) is a personnel branch of the Canadian Forces (CF) that is concerned with providing relevant and correct information to enable commanders to make decisions. The branch ...

. In 1879, he served in the Zulu War, then in 1880/81 in the First Boer War. In 1885, he was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. From 1889, he was a military attaché in Berlin, and in 1891 he was made a Commander of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

(CMG). In 1892, he was made brigadier-general of the Aberdeen Defence Brigade, and in 1897 he was promoted to the rank of major-general. He was appointed Colonel of the

1st Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalgama ...

on 9 June 1890, serving as such until 1912. Russell received the 1st class of the Prussian Order of the Crown in late 1902, following an inspection of the Royal Dragoons by Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

, who was colonel-in-chief of the regiment. He stood unsuccessfully for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

in East Aberdeenshire at the

1892 UK general election The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury again win the greatest number of seats, but no longer a majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won 80 more seats ...

, and again at a by-election in December. He was elected in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

at the

1895 UK general election The 1895 United Kingdom general election was held from 13 July to 7 August 1895. William Gladstone had retired as Prime Minister the previous year, and Queen Victoria, disregarding Gladstone's advice to name Lord Spencer as his successor, ap ...

, serving until his retirement in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Francis 1840 births 1912 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Aberdeenshire People of the First Boer War UK MPs 1895–1900