John Russell, Viscount Amberley

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John Russell, Viscount Amberley (10 December 1842 – 9 January 1876) was the eldest son of John Russell, 1st Earl Russell. As such, from the age of 21 he took his father's junior title of Viscount Amberley, but he did not live to inherit the earldom; this passed, after his death, to his eldest son John Francis Stanley Russell, 2nd Earl Russell. He married Lady Katherine Louisa Stanley (daughter of Baron Stanley of Alderley) in 1864, and had two other children in addition to John Francis Stanley Russell: a daughter, Rachel Lucretia Russell, who died at the age of 6, and Bertrand Russell the philosopher.

Viscount Amberley was a progressive Liberal MP from 1865 to 1868. He had advanced social views: he was an atheist - he wrote a book called Analysis of Religious Belief. His father took steps to suppress it, without success, and his mother helped have it published. He was an advocate of birth control (as was his wife) - his position on this subject cost him his position as an MP. He tolerated the intermittent affair that his wife conducted with their children's tutor, the biologist Douglas Spalding; however her death, and that of their daughter (both of diphtheria), affected him greatly and he died soon after.

[edit] External links

• Pictures of Viscount Amberley at the Bertrand Russell gallery