General Lord Alexander George Russell GCB

Lord Alexander George Russell was born at Woburn, Beds on 16 Sep 1821. He was the son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford. His mother was the Duke’s second wife, Lady Georgiana Gordon. Lady Gordon had a long-running affair with the artist Edward Landseer so there was speculation that Lord Alexander’s real father was him. The Duke had three children by his first marriage to Hon Georgiana Byng, and 10 children by Lady Georgiana Gordon, of which Alexander was the 9th.
Lord Alexander joined the army on 11 July 1839 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade. He was ADC in Canada to Lord Sydenham from 1840-41, and to Lord Elgin in 1847. He was Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General at the Cape of Good Hope in 1852-53, taking part in the Xhosa War for which he received a brevet of major. He was with the regiment in the Crimean War, fighting at Sevastopol which brought him a brevet of lieutenant-colonel. He purchased the rank of lieutenant-colonel in December 1858 and commanded the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade from 1858 to February 1871.
He was colonel on the staff at Shorncliffe from 1873-74 and was in command of the South Eastern District at Dover from 1877-80. He was appointed CB in 1880 and sent to Canada to command the British troops in May 1883. He was advanced to GCB (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath) which entitled him to be styled Sir Alexander but he was already a lord since his father was the Duke of Bedford. He was appointed Colonel of the 8th King’s Liverpool Regiment on 28 Feb 1889. He ended his term with the regiment two years later on 30 April 1891 and was appointed Colonel of the 1st Battalion, Rifle Brigade on 26 Jan 1892.
Lord Alexander was married to Anne Worsley Holmes on 3 July 1844 and they had two sons, Alexander Gordon Russell and Leonard George Russell, both army officers. He died on 10 Jan 1907 at Woodeaton, Oxfordshire. He survived his wife by only three months and they were buried next to each other in the churchyard of St Michael’s, Chenies. The photo, from the National Portrait Gallery shows him in the uniform of the Rifle Brigade c1895.

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