Russell was the grandson of the disgraced Earl and Countess of Somerset, who had scandalised the Jacobean Court. He was a Whig politician, known as 'The Patriot', who defended religious nonconformity, a limited monarchy and the right of resistance. He feared that if James, then Duke of York, became king he would overturn parliamentary power with policies promoting France, Catholicism and absolutism. He supported the Exclusion Bill which attempted to remove James from the order of succession. Russell maintained his innocence of involvement in the Rye House Plot but was found guilty of treason and executed.
Bartele Gallery. Original antique maps, sea charts, engravings and works on paper. This is a plain text rendering of a page that is otherwise built in the browser. The catalogue index is at https://www.bartele.net/catalogue and machine readable notes are at https://www.bartele.net/llms.txt.