Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford

Edward Russell (seated) with Admirals John Benbow and Ralph Delaval

Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford (* 1653 - † November 26, 1727 ) was a British naval officer and politician. He was actively involved in the Glorious Revolution and was supported by Wilhelm III. appointed admiral. He won the naval battles of Barfleur and La Hougue and was later First Lord of the Admiralty .

family

He was the son of Edward Russell, a younger brother of William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford . He himself married his cousin Margaret Russell, the youngest daughter of William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford. The marriage remained childless.

Life

Russell entered the Royal Navy and was made lieutenant in 1671 and captain a year later.

He served in the North Sea between 1672 and 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War . Between 1676 and 1682 he served in the Mediterranean and took part in the operations against the pirates of the barbarian states .

He was discharged from naval service in 1683 after all members of the Russell family fell from grace. The background was that William Russell was connected to the Rye House conspiracy . Edward was therefore also actively involved in the endeavors to make William of Orange king in the place of James II . He traveled to the Netherlands several times on this matter. He was one of the signatories of the letter of invitation to Wilhelm, accompanied him on his journey to England and on the march on London .

After the successful Glorious Revolution , he returned to the naval service. In 1689 the new king named him Admiral of the Blue. He initially served under Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington . He escorted the Spanish queen to A Coruña . After returning to England, he spent most of his time in London, scheming against Herbert.

He was one of the leaders of the Whigs and belonged from 1689 to 1709 the Whig junta. He was also a member of the House of Commons for Launceston in 1689 . A year later he represented Portsmouth , 1695 Cambridgeshire . Between 1689 and 1699 he was treasurer of the fleet.

After the lost sea ​​battle of Beachy Head , he was involved in the fall of Herbert. He himself took over as the first Admiral of the Fleet de facto the high command without being able to force the French to battle. He was involved in secret negotiations with the exiled King James II. On the one hand it was about obtaining information, on the other hand Russell wanted to protect himself in the event of a restoration. He may have avoided battle because of these negotiations. The talks yielded little results.

In May of 1692 the English and Dutch fleets of 82 ships of the line gathered near Portsmouth. Between May 29 and June 4, 1692, there were various skirmishes, collectively known as the naval battles of Barfleur and La Hougue. Russell defeated the French admiral Anne Hilarion de Costentin de Tourville . The combined Anglo-Dutch fleet was superior to the French in terms of strength.

After the battle, he was accused of not doing enough and Russell was removed from his post. But behind this was also his inability to cooperate with the ruling Tories . After the catastrophic defeat in the sea ​​battle at Lagos , Wilhelm III saw himself. forced to dismiss the previous First Lord of the Admiralty and replace him in 1694 by Russell. He drove into the Mediterranean with a fleet and, together with the Spanish fleet, blocked the French in the port of Toulon until the end of the war. It was the first English fleet to winter in the Mediterranean and did not return to England in the autumn. In 1695 he returned to England. In 1697 he was promoted to Earl of Orford .

He had to give up his position as First Lord of the Admiralty in 1699. In the following years he held various other offices. In 1706 he was a member of a commission that negotiated the union between England and Scotland. Between 1709 and 1710 and from 1714 to 1717 he was again First Lord of the Admiralty.

Since he remained childless, his titles expired upon his death.

Ships named after Russell

Five Royal Navy ships were named HMS Russell after him:

• HMS Russell , an 80-gun ship of the line, third class, launched in 1692 and completely renovated from 1706 to 1709 and 1729 to 1735 and sunk as a breakwater at Sheerness in 1762 ;
• HMS Russell , a 74-gun third class ship of the line launched in 1764 and sold in 1811;
• HMS Russell , a 74-gun third class ship of the line that was launched in 1822, was propelled in 1855 and was demolished in 1865;
• HMS Russell , a Duncan- class ship of the line launched in 1901 and lost in a mine hit off Malta in 1916;
• HMS Russell , a Type 14 Blackwood-class anti -submarine frigate launched in 1954 and demolished in 1985;

Vice-Admiral Thomas McNamara Russell (1739? -1824) is named as the namesake for the last ship .

literature

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 49 S429ff. Entry on en: wikisource
• John Wroughton: The Routledge companion to the Stuart age, 1603-1714. New York, 2005 p. 213
• Joseph F. Callo, Alastair Wilson: Who's Who in Naval History. From 1550 to the present New York, 2004 p. 271

predecessor	Office	successor
Anthony Cary	Treasurer of the Navy 1689-1699	Thomas Littelton
Anthony Cary	First Lord of the Admiralty 1694–1699	John Egerton
John Egerton	First Lord of the Admiralty 1709–1710	John Leake
Thomas Wentworth	First Lord of the Admiralty 1714–1717	James Berkeley