Russell, Lord William definition of Russell, Lord William in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Russell, Lord William, 1639–83, English statesman; younger son of the 1st duke of Bedford. He entered Parliament in 1660. Contempt for the dissolute court and fear of Roman Catholicism and of France led him to join the opposition to Charles II. However, he was prepared to negotiate (1678) with his relative, the marquis de Ruvigny, agent of Louis XIV, for aid to secure the dissolution of Parliament and the overthrow of the earl of Danby Danby, Thomas Osborne, earl of, 1631–1712, English statesman. Under the patronage of the 2d duke of Buckingham, he was appointed treasurer of the navy (1668), a privy councilor (1672), and lord treasurer (1673–78).
..... Click the link for more information. . In the excitement over the Popish Plot (1678) he joined the 1st earl of Shaftesbury Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st earl of, 1621–83, English statesman. In the English civil war he supported the crown until 1644 but then joined the parliamentarians.
..... Click the link for more information. in demanding the indictment of the duke of York (later James II) and in pressing the bill to exclude him from the succession. With the temporary Whig success he became (1679) a privy councilor, but he was arrested (1683), tried, and convicted of treason for his supposed implication in the Rye House Plot Rye House Plot, 1683, conspiracy to assassinate Charles II of England and his brother James, duke of York (later James II), as they passed by Rumbold's Rye House in Hertfordshire on the road from Newmarket to London.
..... Click the link for more information. . Executed in 1683, he was exonerated by the reversal of attainder under William III.