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John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, KG, GCMG, PC, FRS (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and again from 1865 to 1866.
May 24, 2024 · John Russell, 1st Earl Russell was the prime minister of Great Britain (1846–52, 1865–66), an aristocratic liberal and leader of the fight for passage of the Reform Bill of 1832. Russell was the third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford.
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Whig 1846 to 1852, 1865 to 1866
“I have made mistakes, but in all I did my object was the public good.”
Factory Act 1847: limitations on factory working hours. Public Health Act 1848: improving the sanitary conditions of towns and populous places.
He was the last Whig Prime Minister. Charles Dickens dedicated the novel, A Tale of Two Cities, to him, “In remembrance of many public services and private kindnesses.”
Lord John Russell, later Earl Russell, was the principal architect of the Great Reform Act in 1832, and was one of the main promoters of parliamentary reform in the nineteenth century. As Home Secretary, he reduced the number of criminal offences punishable by death, so that only murder and high treason could be punished by execution.
Russell was shy, vain and uninterested in cultivating the rapidly expanding media. This made his governments easy targets for radical critics who condemned his 1846 to 1852 ministry as aristocratic and out of touch.
Lord John Russell served as Prime Minister twice. During his long ministerial career, he played a key role in Great Reform Act of 1832, and served as both Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary. As Prime Minister over 1846-52, he led a moderately reforming government, despite the lack of a Parliamentary majority.
John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (born Aug. 18, 1792, London, Eng.—died May 28, 1878, Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, Surrey), British politician and prime minister (1846–52, 1865–66). A member of the prominent Russell family, he entered Parliament in 1813.
In 1835 he was appointed by Melbourne as Home Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons. In 1839 he became Colonial Secretary. When Melbourne's government fell in 1841 he became leader of the Opposition, and on Peel's defeat in 1846 became Prime Minister.
Jun 11, 2018 · Russell, Lord John, 1st Earl Russell (1792–1878). Prime minister. A small, cocky man, with an abrasive and resilient personality, Russell was the third son of the duke of Bedford and was educated at Westminster and Edinburgh University.
