Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford

Edward Russell, 3rd Earl of Bedford (20 December 1572 – 3 May 1627) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Sir Francis Russell, Lord Russell and his wife, Eleanor Forster.[1] He was the paternal grandson of Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford. His maternal grandparents were Sir John Forster of Bamburgh and Jane Radcliffe.[1]

The Earl of Bedford
Born	20 December 1572
Died	3 May 1627
Spouse(s)	Lucy Harington
Father	Sir Francis Russell, Lord Russell
Mother	Eleanor Forster

He married Lucy Harington, the 13 year old daughter of John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton, on 13 December 1594, at St Dunstan's on Stepney Green.The marriage brought him £3,000 and the estate of Minster Lovell.[2]

He held the office of Custos Rotulorum of Devon between 1596 and 1619. His London home was Bedford House on the north side of the Strand.[3]

In 1601, he engaged in the insurrection of the Earl of Essex. He was taken into custody where he wrote to the Privy Council saying that Lady Rich had summoned him to Essex House on 8 February 1601, but he claimed he was not invited to Essex's conference there, and returned home. He was fined £10,000.[4]

In July 1613 he was seriously injured in a fall from his horse while riding in his own park.[5] He never fully recovered his health.[6]

He died in 1627, aged 54 at Moor Park, Hertfordshire, England, without surviving issue, where he had resided since 1614. He was buried on 11 May 1627 in the 'Bedford Chapel' at St. Michael’s Church, Chenies, Buckinghamshire and his titles passed to his cousin, Francis Russell.[7]

References

1. Collins, A. (1720). The Baronettage of England: Being an Historical and Genealogical Account of Baronets (Vol. 2, p. 121). London: W. Taylor. Google Books.
2. Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows (London, 2007), pp. 18-19.
3. Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows (London, 2007), p. 21.
4. Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows (London, 2007), pp. 37-8.
5. Thomas Birch & Robert Folkestone Williams, The Court and times of James the First, vol. 1 (London, 1848), p. 262.
6. Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows (London, 2007), pp. 121-2.
7. Lesley Lawson, Out of the Shadows (London, 2007), p. 163.

• http://www.thepeerage.com/p2759.htm#i27589

Honorary titles
Preceded by Sir John Gilbert	Custos Rotulorum of Devon 1596–1619	Succeeded by The Lord Russell of Thornhaugh
Peerage of England
Preceded by Francis Russell	Earl of Bedford 1585–1627	Succeeded by Francis Russell