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John Russell
John Russell
Spartacus,
USA History,
British
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World War, First
World War, Germany,
Parliamentary
Reform, Liberal
Party,
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John Russell, the third son of the 6th Duke
of Bedford, was born in London on 17th
August, 1792. The Duke of Bedford supported parliamentary reform and
along with Lord Grey, Richard
Sheridan, Thomas Erskine and Samuel
Whitbread was a member of the Society
of Friends of the People. Before he inherited his title in 1802
the Duke of Bedford had been the MP for Tavistock.
Russell suffered from poor health and after a short spell at Westminster
School, he was educated at home. The Duke of Bedford encouraged
his son to take an interest in politics and Russell, like his father,
developed a sympathy for the poor. At the age of fourteen he wrote
in his diary, "What a pity that he who steals a penny loaf should
be hung, whilst he who steals thousands of the public money should
be acquitted."
In 1809 Russell went to Edinburgh University.
Soon after he finished his studies in 1812 his father arranged for
him to be elected to the family seat of Tavistock.
He was also granted the courtesy title, Lord Russell. In the House
of Commons Russell supported the Whigs and
in 1817 he made a passionate speech against the decision by Lord
Liverpool and his government to suspend Habeas
Corpus. Russell also took an active part in the campaign for parliamentary
reform.
At the general election of 1820 Russell switched from Tavistock
to Huntingdonshire. For the next twelve years Russell was the leader
of the Whig campaign in the House
of Commons for parliamentary reform. When he proposed the motion
for an investigation into parliamentary representation in 1822, the
motion was defeated by 105 votes. An attempt by Lord Russell to introduce
a bill to reduce bribery at elections also ended in failure.
In the general election of 1826 Russell was defeated at Huntingdonshire
but in December of that year was returned for the Irish borough of
Bandon. In February 1828 he proposed a bill that would repeal the
Test and Corporation Acts. Russell was
totally opposed to this law under which no Catholic or Protestant
Non-conformist could hold public office. Supported by Robert
Peel, Lord Palmerston and William
Huskisson the bill was passed with a majority of forty-five. The
following year Lord Russell led the successful campaign for the Catholic
Relief Bill. As a result of these measures Catholic
Emancipation was finally achieved.
After the Duke of Wellington resigned
in November 1830, Lord Grey formed a Whig
administration. Russell was offered the post of postmaster-general.
Grey also asked Russell to join a government committee to look into
the need for parliamentary reform. Russell was also chosen to explain
to the House of Commons the government's
proposals for changing the electoral system.
Lord Russell introduced the bill in the House
of Commons in March 1831. After it was rejected by the House
of Lords he reintroduced it on December 1831. As a result of Lord
Russell's perseverance the Reform Act was
finally passed on 7th June, 1832.
After the general election for the new reformed House
of Commons, the Whig government had a
majority of 315. Earl Grey and his colleagues
were now in a position to try and introduce a series of reforms. Russell
was one of the most important figures in this campaign for change.
In 1834 he introduced the Dissenters' Marriage Bill and the Irish
Tithe Bill.
In November, 1834 Lord Althorp, the leader
of theHouse of Commons, succeeded to the
peerage on the death of his father. William
IV objected when the post was offered to Lord Russell and took
the opportunity to dismiss the Whig government.
Sir Robert Peel was invited by the king to
form a Tory government. Outnumbered by Whig
MPs, Peel found the task very difficult and his government suffered
several defeats in the House of Commons. After Peel lost a vote on
3rd March, 1835 concerning the Irish Church, he resigned and was replaced
by Lord Melbourne as prime minister.
Lord Russell became the Home Secretary in Melbourne's new Whig government.
Russell's first reforming measure concerned the reform of local government.
For many years most English towns had been under the control of a
self-elected body of aldermen and councillors. Under the terms of
the Municipal Corporations Act, these
men now had to be elected by the whole body of ratepayers.
In 1836 Lord Russell was responsible for several new reforms including
the establishment of the civil registration of births, marriages,
and deaths, and the legalisation of the marriage of dissenters in
their own chapels. The following year Russell proposed a bill that
would reduce the number of offences to which capital punishment was
applicable. Russell also presented plans to reform the 1834
Poor Law but before these measures could be passed the death of
William IV resulted in a dissolution
of parliament. The subsequent general election resulted in Tory
gains. Lord Melbourne's government remained in power but its reduced
majority made it impossible for Russell to continue with his plans
for parliamentary reform. Despite these difficulties Lord Russell
was able to steer bills establishing reformatories for juvenile offenders
and new Irish Poor Law through parliament.
Lord Russell had for a long time been a advocate of reforming the
Corn Laws. This eventually became the policy
of Lord Melbourne's government. However, when the proposed changes
were defeated by thirty-six votes on 18th May, 1841, the government
resigned. The following general election resulted in Sir
Robert Peel becoming prime minister.
Although Lord Russell was opposed to most of Peel's policies, he fully
supported his plans to reform the Corn Laws.
In a speech he made on 22nd November 1845, Russell called for a total
repeal of the corn laws. Peel was also coming to the same conclusion
and with Whig support, the corn laws were
finally abolished on 26th June 1846.
When Sir
Robert Peel resigned the following month, Lord Russell was asked
to form a new government. Russell immediate problem was to deal with
the potato famine in Ireland. Russell attempted to help by allocating
£10 million to be spent on public works in Ireland. Russell also
vigorously supported John Fielden in his
campaign for factory reform. This resulted in the passing of the 1847
Factory Act. The following year he managed to persuade parliament
to accept his government's Public Health Act that gave municipalities
powers to set up local boards of health.
In December 1851 Lord Russell sacked his foreign minister, Lord
Palmerston, after he had recognised the government formed by Napoleon
III in France without consulting with his fellow cabinet ministers.
Palmerston gained revenge by proposing an amendment to the Militia
Bill that was carried by eleven votes. As a result of this defeat
Russell resigned and was replaced by the Earl
of Derby.
Russell returned to the government when Lord
Aberdeen became prime minister in 1852. In December Russell brought
before the cabinet a new parliamentary reform bill. Many members of
the cabinet, including Lord Palmerston,
disagreed with the measure and threatened to resign. Disappointed
by the lack of support from his colleagues, Russell decided to leave
office. For the next four years Russell concentrated on writing books
about his political hero, Charles Fox. His
books published during this period included Memorials and Letters
of Fox (1853) and Life and Times of Fox (1859).
In 1859 Russell became foreign secretary in Lord Palmerston's government.
The following year Russell introduced a new parliamentary reform act
into the House of Commons. The bill which included reducing the qualification
for the franchise to £10 in the counties to £6 in towns
was not supported by Lord Palmerston
and did not become law.
In July 1861 he was raised to the peerage as Earl Russell. He continued
to hold the office of foreign secretary and when Lord
Palmerston died in October, 1865, Russell once again became prime
minister. One of his first decisions was to try again to persuade
parliament to accept the parliamentary reform proposals that had been
rejected in 1860. The majority of the MPs in the House of Commons
were still opposed to further reform and after the government was
defeated on a vote on 18th June 1866, Earl Russell resigned.
After leaving office Russell continued to attend the House
of Lords where he supported and voted for the 1867
Parliamentary Reform Act. He was also one of the main campaigners
for the 1870 Education Act. Earl Russell
died on 28th May 1878.
Lord John
Russell receiving
Charter Petition at the House of
Commons (Punch Magazine, 1848)
(1)
John Cam Hobhouse, described Lord John
Russell's speech on parliamentary reform on 1st March, 1831 in his
book Recollections of a Long Life (1910)
Lord John
Russell began his speech at six o'clock. Never shall I forget the
astonishment of my neighbours as he developed his plan. Indeed, all
the House seemed perfectly astounded; and when he read the long list
of the boroughs to be either wholly or partially disfranchised there
was a sort of wild ironical laughter. Baring Wall turned to me, said,
'They are mad! they are mad!' and others made use of similar expressions
- all but Sir Robert Peel; he looked serious and angry.
Lord Russell seemed rather to play with the fears of his audience;
and, after detailing some clauses which seemed to complete the scheme,
smiled and paused, and said, 'More yet.' When Lord John sat down,
we (the Radicals) cheered long and loud; although there was hardly
one of us that believed such a scheme could, by any possibility, become
law of the land.
(2)
Charles Sumner described a speech by Lord Russell in the House of
Commons in 1838.
Lord John Russell rose in my mind the more I listened to him. In person
diminutive and rickety, he wriggled round, played with his hat, and
seemed unable to to dispose of his hands or his feet; his voice was
small and thin, but notwithstanding this, a house of five hundred
members was hushed to catch his smallest accents. You listened, and
you felt that you had heard a man of mind, of thought, and of moral
elevation.
(3)
Princess Lieven to his brother Alexander, 2nd March, 1831.
I was
absolutely stupefied when I learnt the extent of the Reform Bill.
The most absolutely secrecy has been maintained on the subject
until the last moment. It is said that the House of Commons was
quite taken by surprise; the Whigs are astonished, the Radicals
delighted, the Tories indignant. This was the first impression
of Lord John Russell's speech, who was entrusted with explaining
the Government Bill.
I have had neither the time nor the courage to read it. Its leading
features have scared me completely: 168 members are unseated,
sixty boroughs disfranchised, eight more members allotted to London
and proportionately to the large towns and counties, the total
number of members reduced by sixty or more.
(4)
Sir Denis Le Marchant, journal (March, 1831)
Lord Russell spoke for rather more than two hours. A more noble
and convincing plea for Reform had not been heard for many years
within the walls of the House. It stamped him as a statesman,
an orator, and a patriot.
(5)
Letter to The Times (8th June,
1832)
Now that the Reform Act has reached its consummation, I suggest
the exertion of your powerful influence to set immediately on
a penny subscription, for the purpose of erecting a triumphal
arch in Hyde Park. A statue of William the Reformer surmounting
the elevation, supported by the figures of Lords Grey, Brougham,
Althorp and Russell, would be a noble monument of a great and
generous peoples' gratitude, to hand down to posterity - to endless
time.
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