Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford

Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford (25 May 1708 – 23 October 1732) was an English nobleman and peer. He was the son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford. He was marginally involved in the politics of Hanoverian Succession.

Russell married his sister's stepdaughter, Lady Anne Egerton, daughter of Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgwater, on 22 April 1725. Russell courted Egerton, trying to get Sarah Churchill, Queen Anne's famous favourite, as a go-between, for political reasons, as he has opposed Walpole.

He died in 1732, aged 24 at Corunna, Spain, without issue. He was buried on 14 December 1732 in the 'Bedford Chapel' at St. Michael's Church, Chenies, Buckinghamshire, and his titles passed to his brother, John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.

It has been suggested that his marriage had been "purely for show." His widow re-married, had offspring, and ultimately became an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and thus William, Prince of Wales. In any case, it was clearly more of a marriage about politics, than sex or love.

References

1. Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford
2. Duke of Bedford
3. William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford
4. John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
5. Wriothesley Russell
6. Anne Russell, Duchess of Bedford
7. Wriothesley
8. Duchess of Bedford
9. George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey
10. Rachel Russell, Lady Russell
11. Bloomsbury
12. Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough
13. Bedford Level Corporation
14. Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton
15. Scroop Egerton, 1st Duke of Bridgewater
16. Russell (surname)
17. Arthur Bedford (writer)
18. Earl Russell
19. Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland
20. William Villiers, 3rd Earl of Jersey