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John Russell, Viscount Amberley

John Russell, Viscount Amberley (10 December 1842 – 9 January 1876) was the eldest son of John Russell, 1st Earl Russell. As such, from 1861 he took his father's junior title of Viscount Amberley, but he did not live to inherit the earldom; this passed, after his death, to his eldest son John Francis Stanley Russell, 2nd Earl Russell. He married The Honourable Katherine Louisa Stanley (1844-1874), fifth daughter of the 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley in 1864, and had two other children in addition to John Francis Stanley Russell: a daughter, Rachel Lucretia Russell, who died at the age of 6, and Bertrand Russell, the philosopher.

Viscount Amberley was a progressive Liberal MP for Nottingham from 1866 to 1868. He had social views unusual for his time: he was an atheist - he wrote a book called Analysis of Religious Belief. His father took steps to suppress it, without success, and his mother helped have it published. He was an advocate of birth control (as was his wife) - his position on this subject cost him his position as an MP. He tolerated the intermittent affair that his wife conducted with their children's tutor, the biologist Douglas Spalding; however her death, and that of their daughter (both of diphtheria), affected him greatly and he died soon after.

Issue:

1. The Honourable John Francis Stanley Russell, later Francis "Frank", 2nd Earl Russell (1865-1931)
2. The Honourable Rachel Lucretia Russell (1868-1874)
3. The Honourable Bertrand Russell, later Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, philosopher (1872-1970).

External links

• Pictures of Viscount Amberley at the Bertrand Russell gallery

References

• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Viscount Amberley