Sir William Russell, 1st Baronet, of Wytley (ca. 1602 – 30 November 1669), was an English politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1625. He was an officer in the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

army during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

and, as Governor of Worcester, he refused entry to the Parliamentary cavalry shortly before the

Battle of Powick Bridge The battle of Powick Bridge was a skirmish fought on 23 September 1642 south of Worcester, England, during the First English Civil War. It was the first engagement between elements of the principal field armies of the Royalists and Parliament ...

(22 September 1642) — the first cavalry skirmish of the Civil War.

Biography

Russell was the son of Sir Thomas Russell of

Strensham Strensham ( ) is a village in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire. In the 2001 census, the civil parish of Strensham had a population of 314 across 127 households. Since 1991, the population has risen 28.7% from 244 residents. History T ...

and his wife Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of Sir William Spencer. He was educated at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

(1620) and trained in the law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

(1622). In 1625 Russell was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He was created baronet of Wytley on 12 March 1627. The manor of

Great Witley Great Witley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the northwest of the county of Worcestershire, England. It is situated around ten miles to the north west of the city of Worcester. The parish had a population of 743 i ...

passed out of the family, sold by his son Thomas during his lifetime.British History
/ref> Russell was appointed to the Worcestershire bench as a Justice of the Peace from 1633 to 1646 and from 1660 until his death. He was

High Sheriff of Worcestershire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire. The High Sheriff, Sheriff is the oldest Secularity, secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but ove ...

for 1635 and 1642–43. He was the Governor of Worcester (1642–1643).

Family

Russell married Frances Reade, daughter of Sir Thomas Reade of Barton, Berkshire and his wife Mary Brockett, daughter of Sir John Brocket of

Brocket Hall Brocket Hall is a Neoclassical architecture, neo-classical English country house, country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf cour ...

, Hertfordshire and had thirteen children. He was succeeded by his son

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

. Samuel Butler a poet who wrote ''

Hudibras ''Hudibras'' () is a vigorous satirical poem, written in a mock-heroic style by Samuel Butler (1613–1680), and published in three parts in 1663, 1664 and 1678. The action is set in the last years of the Interregnum, around 1658–60, immediate ...

'' was brought up in Russell's house and became his clerk.

Notes

References

* * * * * 1600s births 1669 deaths Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Members of the Middle Temple Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1625 High sheriffs of Worcestershire Members of the Parliament of England for Worcestershire {{1625-England-MP-stub