John Russell was born in 1792. He was the third son of the Duke of Bedford and was known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell during his political career. He was educated at Westminster School and Edinburgh University.

He entered the House of Commons as MP for Tavistock, the ‘family seat’, in 1813. He was not a particularly attentive MP at first, preferring to write and travel, and only concentrated heavily on politics from the 1820s. By then he had become convinced of the necessity of political reform. He gradually earned a reputation as a fine parliamentarian and a tireless advocate of his cause.

When Lord Grey formed his government in 1830, he asked Russell to join as Paymaster of the Forces, a non-Cabinet role. However, he was able to use his position in the government to involve himself in the writing of the political reform proposals. In March 1831, Russell announced the Bill in Parliament, and it would be this Bill, after much debate and controversy, that would pass as the Great Reform Act of 1832.

He would continue to serve under Lord Melbourne, after Grey’s resignation in 1834. His promotion to Leader of the House of Commons would cause William IV to end Melbourne’s government, due to his dislike of Russell’s views on the Irish Church. When Melbourne returned to power in 1835, Russell served as Home Secretary and War and Colonial Secretary. He helped to pass legislation that introduced civil marriages and reduced the number of death penalty offences in English law.

Over 1841-46, he led the Whigs in opposition. He supported Peel’s repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. With the Conservatives bitterly divided, Peel resigned in June 1846, and Russell became Prime Minister at the head of a Whig minority government.

Upon entering office, Russell’s government had to face the Irish famine (1845-52). He was personally troubled by the famine and wanted to help. But the government’s response, in the shape of public works, and then efforts channelled through workhouses, soup kitchens, and the Poor Laws, was generally ineffective. The Treasury was obstructive and British policy was generally characterised by laissez faire doctrine. A million Irish died during the famine and a million more fled. Ultimately, history has recorded the efforts to have been largely a failure.

Otherwise, the Russell government passed some domestic reform, including the Factories Act of 1847 and the Public Health Act of 1848. There was also reform of education, including of Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He tried to pass a bill allowing Jews to sit in Parliament, but it was rejected by the House of Lords.

The Whigs were united, and he was even able to gain seats in the 1847 election, but they were a minority in Parliament. The Conservatives, while too divided to form a government, outnumbered the Whigs.

By 1851, his position was very precarious, with several key parliamentary groups having been alienated. Towards the end of that year, Russell forced the resignation of his assertive and forceful Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, for sending diplomatic messages without showing the monarch. In February 1852, Palmerston had his revenge when he placed a hostile amendment on the government’s Militia Bill, ensuring its defeat. Russell then resigned, going back into opposition.

The short-lived Aberdeen government followed, then Palmerston took over as Prime Minister in 1855. Russell formed part of a diplomatic mission to Vienna and was also Colonial Secretary during this period, though he was disappointed not to be more influential in a talented ministry.

When the Whigs returned to opposition again, Russell addressed the meeting in the Willis’ Rooms on 6 June 1859 when the Whigs, Peelites, and Radicals agreed to unite in the shape of the Liberal Party. Russell did the work, and Palmerston collected the prize, when Queen Victoria asked him to be Prime Minister after the 1859 election.

Russell became Foreign Secretary in Palmerton’s government. He also received a peerage and joined the House of Lords. In 1865, upon Palmerston’s death, Victoria asked the 73-year-old Russell to become Prime Minister. This second Russell government lasted just 240 days, falling after Russell was defeated on a vote on a new Reform Bill in Parliament. Though, Russell could claim a victory in defeat because the Conservatives passed a similar bill during the following year.

Russell married Adelaide Lister in 1835 and they had two children. She died in 1838. He remarried to Frances Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound in 1841, and they had four children.

Russell remained active in the Lords until he died in 1878.