Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill
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| Oliver Russells 2nd Baron Ampthill |
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| Image:Oliver Russell Oliver Russell |
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| Born | Oliver Villiers Russell 19 February 1869 Rome , Italy |
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| Died | 7 July 1935 (aged 66) |
| Nationality |  British |
| Education | Eton College New College, Oxford |
| Title | 2nd Baron Ampthill |
| Predecessor | 1st Baron Ampthill |
| Successor | 3rd Baron Ampthill |
| Spouse | Margaret (née Lygon) |
| Children | 5 |
(Arthur) Oliver Villiers Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill, GCSI, GCIE, DL, JP
(19 February.1869 –7 July 1935)
Contents |
[edit] Early Life
Oliver Russell, was born February 19th 1869 in Rome, the eldest son of the 1st Baron Ampthill and Lady Emily Theresa (neé Villiers) - Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria and daughter of the 4th Earl of Clarendon.
He was educated at Eton and graduated from New College, Oxford in 1898 with a Bachelor of Arts. He succeeded to his father's title of Baron Ampthill in 1884 aged 15 (and still at school)
On October 6, 1894, he married Lady Margaret Lygon, the daughter of the 6th Earl Beauchamp in Madresfield, Worcestershire and they had five children:
- John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill (1896–1973)
- Adm Hon. Sir Guy Russell (1898–1977)
- Hon. Phyllis Margaret Russell, OBE (3 June 1900 –c. 24 May 1998)
- Wg Cdr Hon. Edward Wriothesley Curzon Russell, OBE (2 June 1901 – 1982).
married Baroness Barbara Korff and had issue - Brig Hon. Leopold Oliver Russell, CBE, TD (26 January 1907 – 1988)
He is a very tall, very agreeable, and good-looking young man, with a long, strong back, which is worth much in a boat. He is a Freemason and a Liberal Unionist, though he has not yet become famous in the House of Lords. He intends to devote himself to the management of Foreign Affairs. He can shoot.He has many friends who call him “Dick.”
[edit] Rowing
A famous oarsman of his time, Lord Ampthill started rowing at Eton. His record of rowing was one of the longest of his time at Eton and he first had an oar in the Dreadnought on March 1, 1885, going on to be Captain of the Boats in 1887 & 1888.
Whilst at New College, Oxford Ampthill rowed for Oxford three times against Cambridge in the Boat Race (1889 to 1891), winning twice. He was president of both OUBC and the Oxford Union in 1891).
After Oxford, he rowed for Leander Club for a short while then moved to London Rowing Club, becoming club president in 1893, a position he remained in for almost 40 years until his death in 1935.
Ampthill raced in the Ladies' Challenge Plate at Henley Royal Regatta for Eton in 1886, 1887 and 1888. In 1889 he raced both the Grand Challenge Cup and the Silver Goblets, losing in the final of the latter by 2 foot to CUBC in a race which the Henley records for the year describe as "One of the best and closet races ever seen" . In 1890 he again competed in both event, this time racing under New College colours, and collected his first Henley medal, rowing with Guy Nickalls in the Goblets.
In 1891, racing this time as Leander, Lord Ampthill was in the crew which won the Grand Challenge Cup, setting a new course record. He also repeated his Goblets win, again with Guy Nickalls.
Lord Ampthill was elected a Steward of Henley Royal Regatta in 1896, a role he performed until 1900 then again from 1910 until 1927.
[edit] Henley wins
- 1890 - Silver Goblets (rowing as New College Oxford, with Guy Nickalls)
- 1891 - Grand Challenge Cup (rowing as Leander Club)
- 1890 - Silver Goblets(rowing as Leander Club, with Guy Nickalls)
[edit] International Olympic Committee
Between 1894 and 1898, Lord Ampthill was a member of the original International Olympic Committee.
[edit] Masonic Connections
Ampthill was initiated into the Apollo University Lodge, No. 357, Oxford in 1890. He went on to fill the chief office in several lodges, including the Bard of Avon Lodge, No. 778, Hampton Court; The Royal Alpha Lodge, No. 16, London; and the Grand Master's Lodge, No. 1. He was made Provincial Grand Master of Bedfordshire in 1900; was District Grand Master of Madras from 1901 to 1906 and was made Pro Grand Master of England in 1908.
[edit] Political Career
[edit] Colonial Service
Professionally, Lord Ampthill did indeed devote himself to the management of Foreign Affairs. He became Assistant Private Secretary to the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain in 1895, Private Secretary in 1897, and Governor of Madras in 1900 at age thirty-one, and pro tem Viceroy of India in 1904 on the retirement of Lord Curzon, who said that in matters of administration Lord Ampthill had an old head on young shoulders. That last position never became permanent, as he found himself increasingly allied with Indian nationals both in South and East Africa as well as their native country, and at odds with the British Government. During the 1914-18 war, Lord Ampthill commanded a battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment and two of the Bedfordshire Regiment in France.
He was awarded the GCIE on 28 December 1900 and the GCSI on 2 September 1904.
[edit] National Party
In 1917, was one of the founders of the National Party.
[edit] Later life
On 13 July 1909, Lord Ampthill was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire. He then went on to fight in the First World War, during which he was twice mentioned in despatches, and was one of the founders of the National Party in 1917. He retired from the service in 1926 with the rank of colonel.
Lord Ampthil died of pneumonia July 7, 1935, a day before Nickalls, prompting the following anonymous epigram among the various tributes in the Times:
Oarsmen they lived, and silver goblets mark
The well-timed prowess of their trusty blades:
In death their rhythm kept, they now embark
To row their long last course among the Shades
He was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son John Russell
[edit] References
- ^ HT Steward, Records of Henley Royal Regatta, 1903
- ^ Eric Parker, Eton in the 'eighties, 1914, p. 92
- ^ Gordon Ross, The Boat Race, 1957
- ^ Vanity Fair, Spy, March 21, 1891
- ^ Chris Dodd, Water Boiling Aft, London Rowing Club the first 150 years, 2006, p. 104
- ^ Richard Burnell, Henley Royal Regatta, a celebration of 150 years, 1989, p. 213
- ^ Representative British Freemasons, 2003, pp. 12-13
- ^ The Times, July 17, 1935, p. 16d.
- Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition).
New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. ISBN 033338847X - thePeerage.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
- The London Gazette
- The New York Times, December 2, 1906, p. 1
- the rowers of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sir Arthur Havelock |
Governor of Madras 1900–1906 |
Succeeded by Gabriel Stoles |
| Preceded by The Lord Curzon |
Viceroy of India, acting 1904 |
Succeeded by The Lord Curzon |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Odo Russell |
Baron Ampthill 1884–1935 |
Succeeded by John Russell |
| Freemasonry offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl Amherst |
Pro Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England 1908–??? |
Succeeded by ' |
