Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford PC (1653–1727) was the First Lord of the Admiralty under King William III. He was the son of Edward Russell, a younger brother of William Russell, the 1st Duke of Bedford. He married his cousin, Mary Russell, but they had no children.
He was one of the first gentleman officers of the Royal Navy regularly bred to the sea. In 1671, he was named lieutenant at the age of eighteen and was promoted to captain in the following year. In the Third Anglo-Dutch War he saw active service in the North Sea in 1672 and 1673. Russell later served in the Mediterranean in the operations against the Barbary Pirates with Sir John Narborough and Arthur Herbert from 1676 to 1682. 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 of Lord Russell's connection with the Rye House Plot.
In 1688, Russell was one of the Immortal Seven, a group of English nobleman who issued the Invitation to William, a document asking William of Orange to depose James II. In the subsequent War of the Grand Alliance, Russell served at sea, commanding a fleet after 1690. In 1692, Russell was Commander-in-Chief of the Anglo-Dutch force that fought the French fleet at Barfleur, and destroyed much of it at La Hougue, his victory there being the decisive naval battle of the war.
Russell became First Lord of the Admiralty in 1694, remaining in that post until 1699. He served in the Mediterranean from 1694 to 1695 and was created Baron Shingay, Viscount Barfleur, and Earl of Orford in 1697. These titles all became extinct on the childless Orford's death.
On the orders of King William III, he was the first British commander to over-winter at Cadiz (rather than sailing his squadron home in the autumn) and so inaugurated a policy that led to the acquisition of a British Mediterranean base at Gibraltar in 1704.
| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Hugh Piper John Granville |
Member for Launceston with William Harbord 1689–1690 |
Succeeded by William Harbord Bernard Granville |
| Preceded by Henry Slingsby Richard Norton |
Member for Portsmouth with Nicholas Hedger 1690–1695 |
Succeeded by Nicholas Hedger Matthew Aylmer |
| Preceded by Sir Robert Cotton The Lord Cutts |
Member for Cambridgeshire with The Lord Cutts 1695–1697 |
Succeeded by The Lord Cutts Sir Rushout Cullen, Bt |
| Honorary Titles | ||
| Preceded by Richard Bulkeley |
Custos Rotulorum of Caernarvonshire 1689–1700 |
Succeeded by Lord Edward Russell |
| Preceded by Sir Thomas Chicheley |
Custos Rotulorum of Cambridgeshire 1689–1727 |
Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by The Lord North |
Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire 1714–1727 |
|
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Viscount Falkland |
Treasurer of the Navy 1689–1699 |
Succeeded by Sir Thomas Littleton |
| First Lord of the Admiralty 1694–1699 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Bridgewater |
|
| Preceded by The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery (Lord High Admiral) |
First Lord of the Admiralty 1709–1710 |
Succeeded by Sir John Leake |
| Preceded by The Earl of Strafford |
First Lord of the Admiralty 1714–1717 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Berkeley |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by New Creation |
Earl of Orford 1697–1727 |
Succeeded by Extinct |
