William Russell b. 23 September 1639 d. 21 July 1683

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Events

23 September 1639 birth: Chenies, Buckinghamshire

other: eighth cousin 8x removed, Robert Relationship

31 July 1669 marriage: License Faculty, Titchfield, Hampshire, England, ♀ Rachel Wriothesley [Wriothesley] b. 19 September 1637 d. 29 September 1723

January 1673 child birth: St. Giles in the Fields, Westminster, Middlesex, England, ♀ Rachel Russell [Russell] b. January 1673 d. 28 December 1725

1 November 1680 child birth: St giles the fields, Westminster, Llondon, ♂ w Wriothesley Russell [Russell] b. 1 November 1680 d. 26 May 1711

21 July 1683 death: Executed, Tower Of London

2 August 1683 burial: Chenies, Buckinghamshire, England

Notes

Lord William Russell, third and eldest surviving son of Wil liam Ru ssell, first Duke of Bedford, was a distinguished supporter of con stitutional liberty, and was born in 1639. In 1679, when Charles II. fo und it necessar y to ingratiate himself with the Whigs, Lord Russe ll was appointed a member o f the Privy Council. He soon, however, found that his party was not in the king 's confidence, and the recall of the Duke of York, without their concurrence , induced him to resign. Although his temper was mild and moderate, his fear of a Catholic succession induced him to take decisive steps for the exclusion of the Duke of York. In June, 1680, he went to Westminster Hall, and, at the court of King's Bench, presented the duke as a recusant; and, in November following, carried up the Exclusion Bill to the House of Lords, at the head of 200 members of parliament. The king dissolved the parliament, resolved to go vern then ceforward without one, and arbitrary principles were openly avowe d b y the partisans of the court. Alarmed at the state of things, many of the Whig leaders favoured strong expedients, and a plan was formed for a sim ultaneous rising in England and Scotland. Among these leaders, includ ing the Dukes of Monmouth and Argyle, the Lords Russell, Sussex, and Howa rd, Algernon Sidne y and Hampden (grandson of the great Hampden) differe nt views prevailed; but Lord Russell looked only to the exclusion o f the Duke of York. He was however, accused of having engaged in the Rye -house Plot,' which had for its object the assassination of the king on h is return from Newmarket; and on this prete xt he was committed to the Tower, tried condemned, and executed July 21,1683, being then in the 44th year of his age. - After the Revolution the proceedin gs against him we re Annulled. A portrait of Lord W. Russell, by Riley has been added to the National Portrait Gallery.

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