John Russell, Viscount Amberley

Viscount Amberley was a progressive Liberal MP for Nottingham from 1866 to 1868. He had advanced social views: he was an atheist - he wrote a book called Analysis of Religious Belief. His father took steps to suppress it, without success, and his mother helped have it published. He was an advocate of birth control (as was his wife) - his position on this subject cost him his position as an MP. He tolerated the intermittent affair that his wife conducted with their children's tutor, the biologist Douglas Spalding; however her death, and that of their daughter (both of diphtheria), affected him greatly and he died soon after.

Issue:

1. The Honourable John Francis Stanley Russell, later Francis "Frank", 2nd Earl Russell (1865-1931)
2. The Honourable Rachel Lucretia Russell (1868-1874)
3. The Honourable Bertrand Russell, later Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, philosopher (1872-1970).

External links

• Pictures of Viscount Amberley at the Bertrand Russell gallery

References