Francis was the son of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford and Anne Sapcote. He was educated at King's Hall, Cambridge and accompanied his father, to sit in the House of Commons. He represented Buckinghamshire in parliament in 1545-47 and 1547-52. In 1547 he was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. He assisted to quell the rising in Devon in 1549, and after his father had been created Earl of Bedford in January 1550, was known as Lord Russell, taking his seat in the House of Lords under this title in 1552. Russell was in sympathy with reformers, whose opinions he shared, and was in communication with Sir Thomas Wyatt; and in consequence of his religious attitude was imprisoned during the earlier part of Mary's reign. Being released he visited Italy, came into touch with foreign reformers. He led the English contingent fighting for Philip II of Spain, then England's King Consort, at the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557.
Elizabeth I
When Elizabeth I of England ascended the throne in November 1558 the Earl of Bedford, as Russell had been since 1555, became an active figure in public life. He was made a privy councillor, and was sent on diplomatic errands to Charles IX of France and Mary, Queen of Scots. From February 1564 to October 1567 he was governor of Berwick and warden of the east marches of Scotland, in which capacity he conducted various negotiations between Elizabeth and Mary. Bedford represented Elizabeth as her ambassador at the baptism of Prince James on 17 December 1566 at Stirling Castle, and was guest of honour at the subsequent banquet and masque. He appears to have been an efficient warden, but was irritated by the vacillating and tortuous conduct of the English queen. When the northern insurrection broke out in 1569, Bedford was sent into Wales, and he sat in judgment upon the Duke of Norfolk in 1572. In 1576 he was president of the council of Wales, and in 1581 was one of the commissioners deputed to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth and François, Duke of Anjou. Bedford, who was made a Knight of the Garter in 1564, appears to have been a generous and popular man, and died in London in 1585.
Personal life
His first wife was Margaret Gostwick, a widow of Sir John Gostwick. Margaret was a daughter of Sir John St John and Margaret Waldegrave. Together, they were the parents of four sons and three daughters:
Lady Bedford died on 27 August 1562. Bedord married his second wife, Bridget Manners, the Dowager Countess of Rutland, on 25 June 1566. Lady Rutland, a daughter of John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford and Lady Anne Grey, had been twice widowed; first from Ambassador Sir Richard Morrison of Cashiobury in 1556, and second from Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland in 1563. Lord Bedford died in London on 28 July 1585. He was buried at the family chapel at St. Michael's Church next to Chenies Manor House, the family estate which he had made his principal home and where he had entertained Queen Elizabeth in 1570. He was succeeded as third Earl by his grandson, Edward Russell, only son of Francis Russell, Lord Russell.
