Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford
| The Duke of Bedford | |
|---|---|
|
Arms of the Duke of Bedford | |
| Born | 21 December 1888 |
| Died | 9 October 1953 (aged 64) |
| Title | Duke of Bedford |
| Tenure | 27 August 1940 – 9 October 1953 |
| Other titles |
12th Marquess of Tavistock 16th Earl of Bedford 16th Baron Russell 14th Baron Russell of Thornhaugh 12th Baron Howland |
| Successor | John Russell, 13th Duke |
| Spouse(s) | Louisa Crommelin Roberta Jowitt Whitwell |
| Issue |
John Ian Robert Russell Daphne Crommelin Russell Hugh Hastings Russell |
| Parents |
Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford Mary du Caurroy Tribe |
Hastings William Sackville Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford (21 December 1888 – 9 October 1953), nicknamed Spinach Tavistock, was the son of Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford.
Educated at Eton College, he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford with a Master of Arts (M.A.). In November 1914 he married Louisa Crommelin Roberta Jowitt Whitwell; the couple had three children:
- John Ian Robert Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford (1917–2002), who supplied a detailed and hostile portrait of him in the 1959 memoir A Silver-Plated Spoon;
- Lady Daphne Crommelin Russell (2 September 1920-1 June 1991);[1]
- Lord Hugh Hastings Russell (1923–2005), a conscientious objector in the Second World War, married Rosemary Markby and had issue.
A keen naturalist, he arranged a 1906 expedition to Shaanxi, China to collect zoological specimens for the British Museum, during which Arthur de Carle Sowerby discovered a new species of jerboa.[2]
He gained the rank of Lieutenant in the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, but never fought in the First World War owing to ill health. His subsequent advocacy of pacifism during the 1930s, and his attempt to mediate a truce in the Second World War by visiting the German legation in Dublin, led to his name being placed on a list of persons to be arrested in the event of a German invasion . He went on to be patron of the British People's Party based in Covent Garden, an anti-war party that was accused of having fascist sympathies. Despite this, he contributed articles on Social Credit and pacifism to Guy Aldred's journal, The Word, between 1940 and his death.[3] He was also an ornithologist, specialising in parrots and budgerigars, to whom he would feed chocolates, although his eldest son was often reduced to eating them; his other pets included a spider to whom, according to Nancy Mitford's The English Aristocracy, he would regularly feed roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. His cohort included John Beckett, a former Labour Member of Parliament whom other fascist groups complained siphoned away his monies, which could have been spent on more worthy causes.
While known as the Marquess of Tavistock, he wrote "Parrots and Parrot-like Birds". He was a founder member and first President of the Foreign Bird League. He was successful in breeding many species, including the Tahiti Blue Lorikeet and Ultramarine Lorikeet. Both of these are recognised as the world's first breedings in captivity. The Marquess disposed of his birds upon succeeding to the Dukedom in 1939.
He died in 1953, aged 64, as a result of a gunshot wound in the grounds of his Endsleigh estate in Devon. The coroner recorded his death as accidentally inflicted,[4] but his elder son suggested it may have been deliberately self-inflicted,.
Hastings Russell features largely in his son John Ian's memoir, A Silver-Plated Spoon (World Books, 1959). He is described as "The loneliest man I ever knew, incapable of giving or receiving love, utterly self-centred and opinionated. He loved birds, animals, peace, monetary reform, the park and religion." In conjunction with his father, Hastings Russell managed to tie up the family fortunes in a way that made it extremely difficult for his son and heir to access the property.
References
- ↑ "NOTICES UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925 , s . 27". THE LONDON GAZETTE , Ist SEPTEMBER 1992. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
- ↑ Stevens, Keith (1998). Naturalist, Author, Artist, Explorer and Editor. Hong Kong Branch Royal Asiatic Society.
- ↑ Caldwell, John Taylor (1988), Come Dungeons Dark: The Life and Times of Guy Aldred, Glasgow Anarchist, p.234 ISBN 0-946487-19-7
- ↑ "Russell, Hastings William Sackville". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58844. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Bedford
| Peerage of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Herbrand Russell |
Duke of Bedford 1940–1953 |
Succeeded by Ian Russell |
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