| Description | Undated manuscript drafts, essays and notes of John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, comprising a volume containing a narrative on the 1st Duke of Marlborough (Ref: MS OGDEN 83); a volume including a narrative on religion, notes on Ireland, and other notes and statistics (Ref: MS OGDEN 84); and essays on painting, the Renaissance, and European affairs from the peace of Utrecht (Ref: MS OGDEN 85). |
| AdminHistory | Born in Westminster, 1792; third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford; known as Lord John Russell; a delicate child; attended a private school at Sunbury; Westminster School, 1803-1804; subsequently educated privately; attended the University of Edinburgh, 1809-1812; developed a taste for literature, which endured during his later political career; returned, by his father's direction, Member of Parliament for the family borough of Tavistock in the Whig interest, 1813; delivered his maiden speech, 1814; elected for Huntingdonshire at the general election, 1820; pressed for parliamentary reform; at the general election, a candidate for Bedford, but lost, 1830; though not in Parliament, accepted the office of Paymaster-General of the forces in the administration of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey; member of a committee to draft a measure of parliamentary reform; moved the first reading of the Reform Bill in the House of Commons, 1831; the Bill was eventually passed, 1832; his national popularity dated from its delivery; participated in introducing reforming measures in the 1830s; Colonial Secretary, 1839; formed an administration and served as Prime Minister, 1846-1852; Foreign Secretary, 1852-1853; other Cabinet offices followed; retired from public life for a period, 1855-1859; created Earl, 1861; Prime Minister for the second time, 1865-1866; various attempts to introduce Bills for further parliamentary reform during his political career failed; occupied in his later years with political speculation and literary work, but frequently took part in debates in the House of Lords; died, 1878; buried in the family vault at Chenies. Publications include: 'Life of Lord William Russell' (1819); 'Essays and Sketches' (1820); 'Essay on the English Constitution' (1821); 'The Nun of Arrouca' (1822); 'Don Carlos' (1822); 'Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe' (1824); a translation of the fifth book of 'The Odyssey' (1827); 'Causes of the French Revolution' (1832); as editor, 'Letters of the Fourth Duke of Bedford' (3 volumes, 1842-1846); 'Memoirs, Journal and Correspondence of Thomas Moore' (1853-1856); 'Memorials and Letters of Fox' (4 volumes, 1853-1857); 'Life and Times of Fox' (3 volumes, 1859-1867). |
| CustodialHistory | Part of the library of Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), linguistic psychologist, founder of the Orthological Institute and originator of the language system Basic English, whose interests in language systems are reflected in the subject matter of his collection, which comprised individual manuscripts and manuscript collections dating from the 14th to the 20th century. |