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 disputed in the " Ampthill baby case". His father, John ...

, and was educated at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

. 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 grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

Town Council from July 2003 until April 2013, and formerly served as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

councillor on Rother 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 northeast corner of the county, bord ...

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, widow of Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich

Romanov The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...

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 so ...

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 British Ambassador to the German Empire. Early life Russell was born in F ...

, who represented Britain unofficially at the Vatican and officially at Berlin; Lord Odo's uncle was

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known as Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 186 ...

, 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 philosopher, logician, mathematician, and public intellectual. He had influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, and various areas of analytic ...

, the eminent 20th century philosopher.

References

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 {{UK-baron-stub