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 The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War. The battle began as an attempted raid on Solebay port where an English fleet was anchored and large ...

during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, he served as a captain in the Mediterranean Sea in operations against the

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

. Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the

Invitation to William The ''Invitation to William'' was a letter sent by seven notable English nobles, later called "the Immortal Seven", to stadtholder William III, Prince of Orange, received by him on 30 June 1688 (Julian calendar, 10 July Gregorian calendar). In ...

, a document asking

Prince William of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

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 The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

. 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 The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

. 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

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 Royal Hillsborough (Irish: ''Cromghlinn'', meaning 'Crooked Glen' Patrick McKay, ''A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names'', p. 81. The Institute of Irish Studies, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, 1999.), more commonly known simply as ...

and widow of Sir William Brooke, Russell briefly attended

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

and joined the Royal Navy in 1666. 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

off the Suffolk coast in May 1672, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Promoted 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 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

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. 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.

Senior command

Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued the

, a document asking

William, Prince of Orange William, Prince of Orange (Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; 4 September 1840 – 11 June 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of King William III from 17 March 1849 until his death. Early life Prince Wi ...

, 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

in November 1688. Russell was elected Whig Member of Parliament for Launceston and appointed Treasurer of the Navy in 1689. Promoted directly to full

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

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. Russell lived at

Chippenham Park Chippenham Park is a country house in Chippenham, Cambridgeshire. History The Chippenham Park Estate was acquired by Thomas Revett, a London merchant, in 1558. It passed to the Russell family around 1600 and the present house was commissioned by ...

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. Russell was elected Member of Parliament for Portsmouth in the general election in March 1690. He conveyed

Maria Anna of Neuburg Maria Anna of Neuburg ( es, Mariana; 28 October 1667 – 16 July 1740), was a German princess and member of the Wittelsbach family, who became Queen consort of Spain in 1689 as the second wife of Charles II, last Habsburg King of Spain. Her m ...

, Charles II of Spain's future consort, from Flushing to Coruna in Spring 1690. He joined the

Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...

led by the Earl of Pembroke, as Senior Naval Lord,Rodger, p. 34 in June 1690. Following the debacle at the Battle of Beachy Head in July 1690, Admiral the

Earl of Torrington The title of Earl of Torrington was created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation was in 1660 as a subsidiary title of the Duke of Albemarle. Following the extinction of this title in 1688, the title was created anew in 1689, but b ...

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. 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. 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

. 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. Russell then destroyed much of the French fleet, in a night attack at the Battle of La Hogue in June 1692. 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. Chippenham Hall and Terrace - geograph

Russell became First Lord of the Admiralty and Senior Naval Lord 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. He faced allegations of having misappropriated funds from the maintenance of the fleet, to spend on his private estates in 1698. 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. He commissioned the building of

Orford House Orford House is a country house in the small medieval hamlet of Ugley, Essex, England. History The house was built for Edward Russell, who went on to be First Lord of the Admiralty, in around 1700. It was enlarged by Isaac Whittington MP in a ...

Ugley Ugley is a small village and civil parish in the non-metropolitan district of Uttlesford in Essex, England. It is about north from Stansted Mountfitchet, and situated between Saffron Walden and Bishop's Stortford. Within the parish is the vill ...

in Essex in 1700. 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. 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. He died at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

in London on 26 November 1727 and was buried in the Russell vault at St Michael's Church in Chenies.

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. They lived from the time of their marriage until Russell's death at 43 King Street, Covent Garden.

References

Sources

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External links

Edward Russell
Three Decks * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Orford, Edward Russell, 1st Earl Of 1653 births 1727 deaths 17th-century English nobility 18th-century English nobility 17th-century Royal Navy personnel Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Earls in the Peerage of England Peers of England created by William III Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford Lord-Lieutenants of Cambridgeshire Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Privy Council of England Royal Navy admirals of the fleet British military personnel of the Nine Years' War British naval commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall English MPs 1689–1690 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 Glorious Revolution Earls of Orford