John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

The Right Honourable The Earl Russell KG GCMG PC FRS
Photograph by John Jabez Edwin Mayall, 1861
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office 29 October 1865 – 26 June 1866
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	The Viscount Palmerston
Succeeded by	The Earl of Derby
In office 30 June 1846 – 21 February 1852
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Robert Peel
Succeeded by	The Earl of Derby
Leader of the Opposition
In office 28 June 1866 – 3 December 1868
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by	The Earl of Derby
Succeeded by	Benjamin Disraeli
In office 23 February 1852 – 19 December 1852
Prime Minister	The Earl of Derby
Preceded by	The Earl of Derby
Succeeded by	The Earl of Derby
Foreign Secretary
In office 18 June 1859 – 3 November 1865
Prime Minister	The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded by	The Earl of Malmesbury
Succeeded by	The Earl of Clarendon
In office 28 December 1852 – 21 February 1853
Prime Minister	The Earl of Aberdeen
Preceded by	The Earl of Malmesbury
Succeeded by	The Earl of Clarendon
Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office 23 February 1855 – 21 July 1855
Prime Minister	The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded by	Sidney Herbert
Succeeded by	Sir William Molesworth
Lord President of the Council
In office 12 June 1854 – 8 February 1855
Prime Minister	The Earl of Aberdeen
Preceded by	The Earl Granville
Succeeded by	The Earl Granville
Secretary of State for War and the Colonies
In office 30 August 1839 – 30 August 1841
Prime Minister	The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	The Marquess of Normanby
Succeeded by	Lord Stanley
Home Secretary
In office 18 April 1835 – 30 August 1839
Prime Minister	The Viscount Melbourne
Preceded by	Henry Goulburn
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Normanby
Additional positions
Personal details
Born	John Russell (1792-08-18)18 August 1792 Mayfair, Middlesex, England
Died	28 May 1878(1878-05-28) (aged 85) Richmond Park, Surrey, England
Resting place	St Michael's, Chenies
Political party	Liberal (1859–1878)
Other political affiliations	Whig (before 1859)
Spouses	Adelaide Lister ​ ​ (m. 1835; died 1838)​ Frances Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound ​ ​ (m. 1841)​
Children	6, including John, Rollo, and Agatha
Parent	6th Duke of Bedford (father)
Alma mater	University of Edinburgh
Signature

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC, FRS (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 1866.

The third son of the 6th Duke of Bedford, Russell was educated at Westminster School and Edinburgh University before entering Parliament in 1813. In 1828 he took a leading role in the repeal of the Test Acts which discriminated against Catholics and Protestant dissenters. He was one of the principal architects of the Reform Act 1832, which was the first major reform of Parliament since the Restoration, and a significant early step on the road to democracy and away from rule by the aristocracy and landed gentry. He favoured expanding the right to vote to the middle classes and enfranchising Britain's growing industrial towns and cities, but he never advocated universal suffrage and he opposed the secret ballot. Russell was outspoken on many issues over the course of his career, advocating Catholic emancipation in the 1820s, calling for the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1845, denouncing Pope Pius IX's revival of Catholic bishoprics in 1850, and supporting Italian unification during the 1860s.

Russell's ministerial career spanned four decades. In addition to his two terms as prime minister, between 1831 and 1865 he served in the cabinets of Earl Grey, Viscount Melbourne, the Earl of Aberdeen, and Viscount Palmerston. Russell's relationship with Palmerston was often stormy and contributed to bringing down Russell's first government in 1852 and Palmerston's first government in 1858. However, their renewed alliance from 1859 was one of the foundations of the united Liberal Party, which would go on to dominate British politics in the following decades. While Russell was an energetic and effective minister during the 1830s and helped to commit the Whigs to a reform agenda, he proved less successful as prime minister. During his two periods as prime minister he often suffered from a disunited cabinet and weak support in the House of Commons, meaning he was unable to carry out much of his agenda. During his first premiership, his government failed to deal effectively with the Irish Famine, a disaster that saw the loss of a quarter of Ireland's population through death and emigration. During his second premiership, he split his party by pressing for further parliamentary reform and was forced from office only to watch Derby and Disraeli carry a more ambitious Reform Bill.^[1] It has been said that Russell's ministry of 1846–1852 was the ruin of the old Whig party and that his ministry of 1865–1866 was very nearly the ruin of the Liberal Party that took its place.^[2]