The Earl of Orford | |
|---|---|
| First Lord of the Admiralty | |
| In office 1694 to 1699 – 1709 to 1710 – 1714 to 1717 | |
| Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire | |
| In office 1715–1727 | |
| Member of Parliament forCambridgeshire | |
| In office November 1695 – May 1697 | |
| Member of Parliament forPortsmouth | |
| In office March 1690 – October 1695 | |
| Treasurer of the Navy | |
| In office 1689–1699 | |
| Member of Parliament forLaunceston | |
| In office January 1689 – February 1689 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 February 1657 |
| Died | 26 November 1727(1727-11-26) (aged 70) Covent Garden, London, England |
| Resting place | St Michael's, Chenies |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse | Lady Margaret Russell |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Sailor and politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1666–1717 |
| Rank | Admiral of the Fleet |
| Commands | Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet Phoenix;Reserve;Defiance;Swiftsure;Newcastle |
| Battles/wars | Third Anglo-Dutch War Battle of Solebay Nine Years' War Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue |
Admiral of the FleetEdward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford,PC, JP (1653 – 26 November 1727) was aRoyal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer at theBattle of Solebay during theThird Anglo-Dutch War, he served as a captain in theMediterranean Sea in operations against theBarbary pirates.
Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued theInvitation to William, a document askingPrince William of Orange to deposeKing James II. Based in theNetherlands, he served as Prince William's secretary during the planning of William's invasion of England and subsequentGlorious Revolution. He was fully engaged in providing naval support for theWilliamite War in Ireland until the war ended. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-Dutch force that fought the French fleet at theBattle of Barfleur and destroyed much of it in a night attack at the Battle of La Hogue during theNine Years' War.
Russell went on to beFirst Lord of the Admiralty during the reign of William III and then held the office twice again in the reigns ofQueen Anne andKing George I. He was alsoMP forLaunceston, forPortsmouth and then forCambridgeshire.

Born the son of the Hon. Edward Russell, a younger son of the4th Earl of Bedford and Penelope Russell (née Hill), daughter of SirMoyses Hill ofHillsborough, County Down and widow of SirWilliam Brooke, Russell briefly attendedSt John's College, Cambridge and joined the Royal Navy in 1666.[1][2] Promoted tolieutenant in 1671, he was appointed to thefourth-rateHMSAdvice and then transferred to thethird-rateHMSRupert and saw action, when a combined British and French fleet was surprised and attacked by the Dutch, led by AdmiralMichiel de Ruyter, at theBattle of Solebay off the Suffolk coast in May 1672, during theThird Anglo-Dutch War.[2]
Promoted tocaptain on 10 June 1672, Russell was given command of thefifth-rateHMSPhoenix and then transferred to the command of the fourth-rateHMSReserve in the Mediterranean, in operations against theBarbary pirates in February 1675, then to the command of the third-rateHMSDefiance in December 1677. He then moved to the third-rateHMSSwiftsure in March 1678 and then to the fourth-rateHMSNewcastle in August 1680.[2] 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 ofLord Russell's connection with theRye House Plot.[2]
Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English noblemen who issued theInvitation to William, a document askingWilliam, Prince of Orange, to deposeKing James II in June 1688. Based in theNetherlands, he served as the prince's secretary during the planning of William's invasion of England and subsequentGlorious Revolution in November 1688.[2]
Russell was electedWhigMember of Parliament forLaunceston and appointedTreasurer of the Navy in 1689.[3] Promoted directly to fulladmiral in May 1689, Russell took command in the Channel, with his flag in thesecond-rateHMSDuke, in 1689 and enforced a blockade of France.[2] Russell lived atChippenham Park inCambridgeshire 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.[4]
Russell was elected Member of Parliament forPortsmouth in the general election in March 1690. He conveyedMaria Anna of Neuburg,Charles II of Spain's future consort, fromFlushing toCoruna in Spring 1690.[2] He joined theBoard of Admiralty led by theEarl of Pembroke, asSenior Naval Lord,[5] in June 1690.[6] Following the debacle at theBattle of Beachy Head in July 1690, Admiral theEarl of Torrington fell out of favour and Russell, having been promoted toAdmiral of the Fleet, became Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in December 1690. He was fully engaged in providing naval support for theWilliamite War in Ireland until the war ended in October 1691.[2]

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.[6] Flying his flag in thefirst-rateHMSBritannia, he was Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-Dutch force that fought the French fleet at theBattle of Barfleur in May 1692, during theNine Years' War. At about 10 am the French Admiral theComte de Tourville, with his flag in the French shipSoleil Royal, attacked Russell's flagship but around 1 pm, Tourville was forced to disengage with extensive damage to his rigging and sails.[7] Russell then destroyed much of the French fleet, in a night attack at the Battle of La Hogue in June 1692.[2]
Following a disagreement with theEarl of Nottingham, Russell resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy in December 1692. AdmiralsHenry Killigrew,Ralph Delaval andCloudesley Shovell were put in joint command of the fleet in January 1693. Following the disastrous attack on theSmyrna merchantmen at theBattle of Lagos in June 1693, all three admirals were dismissed from their joint command and Russell resumed command of the fleet in November 1693.[3]

Russell becameFirst Lord of the Admiralty and Senior Naval Lord[5] in theFirst 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 atCádiz (rather than sailing his squadron home in the autumn). He was elected Member of Parliament forCambridgeshire in 1695 and was createdBaron Shingay,Viscount Barfleur andEarl of Orford on 7 May 1697.[8] He faced allegations of having misappropriated funds from the maintenance of the fleet, to spend on his private estates in 1698.[9] 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.[6] He commissioned the building ofOrford House atUgley inEssex in 1700.[10]
Russell returned to office as First Lord in the coalitionGodolphin–Marlborough ministry in November 1709 but left his post when theTory-dominatedHarley ministry came to power in October 1710.[3] He was appointed for a third time as First Lord in the WhigTownshend ministry in October 1714 and having been appointedLord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire on 27 September 1715, left his post again when that ministry left office in April 1717.[6][11] He died atCovent Garden inLondon on 26 November 1727 and was buried in the Russell vault at St Michael's Church inChenies.[2]
In November 1691, Russell married his cousin, Lady Margaret Russell, youngest daughter of the5th Earl of Bedford (later the 1st Duke of Bedford); they had no children.[2] They lived from the time of their marriage until Russell's death at43 King Street, Covent Garden.[12][13]

| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLaunceston 1689–1690 With:William Harbord | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forPortsmouth 1690–1695 With:Nicholas Hedger | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCambridgeshire 1695–1697 With:The Lord Cutts | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Custos Rotulorum of Cambridgeshire 1689–1727 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire 1715–1727 | |
| Military offices | ||
| Preceded by | Senior Naval Lord 1690–1691 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Senior Naval Lord 1694–1699 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Treasurer of the Navy 1689–1699 | Succeeded by |
| First Lord of the Admiralty 1694–1699 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery (Lord High Admiral) | First Lord of the Admiralty 1709–1710 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | First Lord of the Admiralty 1714–1717 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of England | ||
| New creation | Earl of Orford 1697–1727 | Extinct |