| Intro | British peer and writer | ||||
| A.K.A. | John Ian Robert Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford, Lord Howland, Marquess … | ||||
| Was |
Politician Author Journalist Writer |
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| From | United Kingdom | ||||
| Type |
Journalism Literature Politics |
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| Gender | male | ||||
| Birth | 24 May 1917 | ||||
| Death |
25 October 2002 (aged 85 years) |
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| Family |
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John Ian Robert Russell, 13th Duke of Bedford (24 May 1917 – 25 October 2002), styled Lord Howland until 1940 and Marquess of Tavistock between 1940 and 1953, was a British peer and writer.
Background and education
Russell was the son of Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford. He had a very strained relationship with his father and grandfather, who during his early years refused to give him the allowance he felt would be appropriate for a future Duke; his father eventually tied up most of the Bedford fortune in trust so that he could not borrow against it.
The 13th Duke was known in his youth as Ian, with the courtesy title Lord Howland. In 1940 his father succeeded to the dukedom and Lord Howland acquired the courtesy title Marquess of Tavistock.
Career
Russell started his career as a rent collector in 1938, in Stepney. He then joined the Coldstream Guards in 1939 and fought in the Second World War between 1939 and 1940, but left the army after being invalided. He then turned to journalism and became a reporter for the Daily Express in 1940. He published:
- A Silver-Plated Spoon (1959)
- The Duke of Bedford’s Book of Snobs (1965)
- The Flying Duchess (1968)
- How to Run a Stately Home (1971)
Russell was the first Duke of Bedford to open Woburn Abbey up to the public, a move that alienated him from many of his peers.
He was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1985.
Family
Bedford married Clare Gwendolen (née Bridgman) Hollway (1903–1945) on 6 April 1939. She died of a drug overdose in 1945. They had two children:
- Henry Robin Ian Russell, 14th Duke of Bedford (1940–2003)
- Lord Rudolf Russell (b. 7 March 1944)
On 13 February 1947, Lord Tavistock married as his second wife, Lydia Lyle (born 17 October 1917 – died 25 July 2006), daughter of John Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston and the former Denise Orme, and widow of Capt. Ian Archibald de Hoghton Lyle (1909–1942), heir to a baronetcy; she had two children by her first marriage. They were divorced in 1960. They had one child:
- Lord Francis Hastings Russell (b. 27 February 1950)
Bedford married, thirdly, Nicole (Schneider) Milinaire (29 June 1920 – 7 September 2012) on 4 September 1960. There were no children from this marriage.
Bedford and his third wife became tax exiles in 1974, leaving the United Kingdom and eventually settling in Monaco. Bedford died in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2002.