Lord John Russell (1846-52, 1865-6) - Prime Minister - Parliament

John Russell was born in 1792 and was educated at Edinburgh University. Russell became a strong campaigner for the Whig administration and proposed and fought for a number of bills. He became Home Secretary for Melbourne’s new government and his first reforming measure was the reforming of local governments.

Lord Russell had for a long time advocated the reform of Corn Laws and this eventually became the policy of Russell’s government. When Sir Robert Peel resigned, Russell was asked to form his own government and immediately had to deal with the potato famine. He sacked his foreign minister, Lord Palmerston, who ended up passing a bill against him, which forced Russell to resign. In 1865 he returned again to office but after a series of rejected bills, he resigned once again.

John Russell’s entry into his diary – aged 14:
“What a pity that he who steals a penny loaf should be hung, whilst he who steals thousands of the public money should be acquitted.”

"I have made mistakes, but in all I did my object was the public good"

"A proverb is one man's wit and all men's wisdom"

"It is impossible that the whisper of a faction should prevail against the voice of a nation"

"If peace cannot be maintained with honour, it is no longer peace"