George W. E. Russell

The Right Honourable George W. E. Russell PC
Under-Secretary of State for India
In office 19 August 1892 – 21 June 1894
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	George Curzon
Succeeded by	The Lord Reay
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
In office 12 March 1894 – 21 June 1895
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Rosebery
Preceded by	Herbert Gladstone
Succeeded by	Jesse Collings
Personal details
Born	3 February 1853 London, England
Died	17 March 1919 (aged 66) London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Alma mater	University College, Oxford

George William Erskine Russell PC (3 February 1853 – 17 March 1919), known as George W. E. Russell, was a British biographer, memoirist and Liberal politician.

Background and education

Russell was born in London, England, on 3 February 1853, the youngest son of Lord Charles Russell, sixth son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford. His mother was Isabella Clarisa Davies, daughter of William Griffith Davies, of Penylan, Carmarthenshire.^[1] He was educated at Harrow and University College, Oxford.^[2]

Though he entered University College as a Scholar, he obtained only a Pass degree. Ill-health, particularly myelitis, put paid to any chance of academic distinction.

Political career

Russell was Liberal Member of Parliament for Aylesbury from 1880 to 1885.^[3] and for Biggleswade from 1892-1895.^[4] He was appointed by William Ewart Gladstone as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board from 1883 to 1885 and as Under-Secretary of State for India from 1892 to 1894. Under Lord Rosebery he was Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department from 1894 to 1895. He was also an Alderman on London County Council from 1889 to 1895. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1907, and held the honorary degree of LLD from St Andrews University. He was the author of the biography The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone (1891). Russell was a journalist by profession, and a close ally of the Grand Old Man, a home ruler, when Gladstone presented the bill to the Commons for the second time on 13 February 1893.^[5]

Personal life

Russell died, unmarried, at 18 Wilton Street, London, on 17 March 1919, aged 66.^[1]

Photographs

The Victoria and Albert Museum's photograph of Russell can be seen at http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O103221/gwe-russell-portraits-of-many-photograph-hollyer-frederick/

References

1. thepeerage.com George William Erskine Russell
2. Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 3)
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 3)
5. ed. David (1977) "Inside the Cabinet: from the Diares of Charles Hobhouse", 19

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by George W. E. Russell
• Works by George W. E. Russell at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about George W. E. Russell at Internet Archive