John Russell was born August 18, 1792, in London.
Russell was born into the highest echelons of the British aristocracy. The Russell family had been one of the principal Whig dynasties in England since the 17th century, and were among the richest handful of aristocratic landowning families in the country.
John was educated at Westminster School and University of Edinburgh.
Russell entered parliament as a Whig in 1813. In 1819, Russell embraced the cause of parliamentary reform, and led the more reformist wing of the Whigs throughout the 1820s.
When the Whigs came to power in 1830 in Earl Grey's government, Russell entered the government as Paymaster of the Forces, and was soon elevated to the Cabinet.
He was one of the principal leaders of the fight for the Reform Act 1832, earning the nickname Finality John from his complacently pronouncing the Act a final measure.
In 1834, when the leader of the Commons, Lord Althorp, succeeded to the peerage as Earl Spencer, Russell became the leader of the Whigs in the Commons, a position he maintained for the rest of the decade, until the Whigs fell from power in 1841.
He served as Prime Minister from 1846-1852 and 1865-1866.
Russell died May 28, 1878 at Surrey.
British Prime Ministers
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