Conrad Russell, 5th Earl Russell
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Conrad Sebastian Robert Russell, 5th Earl Russell, (15 April 1937 – 14 October 2004), was a British historian and politician. His parents were the philosopher and mathematician
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
and his third wife
Patricia Russell Patricia Russell, Countess Russell (1910 – 2004) was the third wife of philosopher Bertrand Russell and a significant contributor to his book '' A History of Western Philosophy''. Lady Russell was born Marjorie Helen Spence in 1910. As her pare ...
. He was also a great-grandson of the 19th-century British Whig Prime Minister
Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...
. He succeeded to the earldom on the death of his half-brother, John Russell, on 16 December 1987. Both sons were named after their father's great friend Joseph Conrad, who was also the 4th Earl's godfather. Educated at Eton (
King's Scholar A King's Scholar is a foundation scholar (elected on the basis of good academic performance and usually qualifying for reduced fees) of one of certain public schools. These include Eton College; The King's School, Canterbury; The King's School ...
) and Merton College, Oxford, Conrad Russell was an academic historian working on 17th-century British history, having extensively written and lectured on parliamentary struggles of the period. Russell was also a passionate advocate of liberalism, from a long family line of distinguished liberals. After his death from complications of emphysema, Russell was succeeded as Earl by his elder son, Nicholas, who died in 2014 and was succeeded as Earl by his brother,
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
, who is also a politician.


Academic career

Russell was a historian working on the origins of the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
and critical of older Whig and Marxist interpretations. His major works include ''Crisis of Parliaments: English history 1509–1660'' (1971), ''Origins of the English Civil War'' (edited, 1973), ''Parliaments and English politics, 1621–1629'' (1979), ''Unrevolutionary England, 1603–1642'' (1990), and ''Fall of the British monarchies, 1637–1642'' (1991). His work on early Stuart Parliaments was profoundly influenced by the work of Alan Everitt, who had argued that the English gentry were preoccupied with defending their positions in the localities rather than responding to the demands of the Crown. This no longer seems entirely plausible in the light of the work done by Richard Cust, Clive Holmes, Peter Lake and Christopher Thompson. Russell argued that the Civil War was much less a result of long term constitutional conflicts than had previously been thought, e.g. by
Lawrence Stone Lawrence Stone (4 December 1919 – 16 June 1999) was an English historian of early modern Britain, after a start to his career as an art historian of English medieval art. He is noted for his work on the English Civil War and the history of marr ...
and Christopher Hill, and that its origins are to be sought rather in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of war in 1642 and in the context of the problems of the multiple kingdoms of the British Isles, a hypothesis for which he was indebted to the pioneering study of Helmut Koenigsberger. This area is still being explored by historians like John Adamson and David Scott even if their detailed conclusions vary from those reached by Russell. He was lecturer (and later
reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...
) in history at Bedford College,
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
(now part of
Royal Holloway Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...
), 1960–1979; professor of history at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
, US, 1979–1984; Astor Professor of British History at
University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...
, 1984–1990; and professor of British history at King's College London from 1990 to his retirement in 2003. Russell's expectation that he would succeed Michael Howard as Regius Professor of History at the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
was unfulfilled, partly because of doubts long-held in the university about his scholarship and partly because his political partisanship made him unacceptable for such a prestigious post.


Political career

As a young man, Russell's political allegiance varied between the Labour Party and the then weak
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
. He stood as the Labour candidate in Paddington South in the 1966 general election, but failed to win the seat from the
Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
. He succeeded to the title of Earl Russell on the death of his half-brother, John Russell, in 1987. He was the first parliamentarian to take his seat as a
Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...
, shortly after the party was formed in 1988 from a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party. In 1999, all but 92 hereditary peers were removed from the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
. Lord Russell was elected at the top of his party's list of hereditary peers to retain their seats, though he had consistently argued in favour of abolishing the Lords completely, and replacing it with an elected senate. He was admired in the House for his fund of historical anecdotes and dry sense of humour. He was vice-president of the Liberal Democrat Youth and Students 1993–1994 and honorary president of the Liberal Democrat History Group 1998–2004. In 1988 he became Co-Chairman (later President) of the Council for Academic Autonomy, a group of university academics promoting the principles of academic freedom and the independence of universities from state and commercial control, and was instrumental in a crucial amendment to the Education Reform Act of 1988.


Death

Russell's health worsened in the late 1990s and he died of respiratory failure at
Central Middlesex Hospital Central Middlesex Hospital is in the centre of the Park Royal business estate, on the border of two London boroughs, Brent and Ealing. It is managed by the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust. History The hospital was establish ...
in 2004. Russell was predeceased by his wife in 2003.


Published books

*'' The Crisis of Parliaments: English History 1509–1660'' (1971) *'' The Origins of the English Civil War'' (1973) *'' Parliaments and English Politics, 1621–1629'' (1979) *'' Unrevolutionary England:1603-1642'' (1990) *'' The Causes of the English Civil War'' (1990) *'' The Fall of the British Monarchies, 1637–1642'' (1991) *''Academic Freedom'' (1993) *'' An Intelligent Person's Guide to Liberalism'' (1999) In his book ''Academic Freedom'',Russell, Conrad ''Academic Freedom'', Routledge (1993) Russell examines the ideal and the limits of academic freedom, and the relations between the university and the state. He notes (p. 24) that his father's career is a reminder that a free society is not a guarantee against losing an academic job for holding very unpopular opinions on non-academic subjects, as
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
in fact did twice.


References


Sources

*


External links

*
biog - Conrad Russell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Conrad 5th Earl Russell 1937 births 2004 deaths Academics of King's College London Academics of Royal Holloway, University of London Academics of University College London Alumni of Merton College, Oxford British humanists Deaths from emphysema Earls Russell Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Liberal Democrats (UK) hereditary peers People educated at Eton College Conrad Yale University faculty 20th-century British historians People from Harting