RUSSELL, Conrad (Sebastian Robert) 1937-2004

(Earl Russell)

OBITUARY NOTICE— See index for CA sketch: Born April 15, 1937, in Sussex, England; died October 14, 2004, in London, England. Russell was the fifth Earl Russell, a member of the House of Lords, and a retired professor of history. The son of the philosopher Bertrand Russell, he attended Eton College, Oxford, where he earned a B.A. in 1958 and an M.A. in 1962. He began his academic career at Bedford College as a lecturer in history in 1960, becoming a reader in 1974. In 1979, he traveled to the United States to accept a post as professor of history at Yale University. He then went back to England in 1984 when he was named Astor Professor of British History at University College London. From 1990 to 2002, he was a professor of history at King's College, and during that time he was also a research professor at Merton College, Oxford, from 1994 to 1995. When Russell's half brother died in 1987, he inherited the title of fifth earl Russell and soon entered the House of Lords, where he became the Liberal spokesperson on pensions and social security in 1990. As a member of Parliament, Russell was known to remain true to liberal ideals, and he advocated efforts to make social services in England for children and the poor more efficient and equitable. As a scholar, Russell was an authority on seventeenth-century Britain, particularly the English Civil War. He published several books on these topics, including Parliaments and English Politics, 1621-1629 (1979) and The Fall of the British Monarchies, 1637-1642 (1991), and he edited The Origins of the English Civil War (1972). His most recent book was An Intelligent Person's Guide to Liberalism (1999).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Chicago Tribune, October 16, 2004, section 2, p. 10.

Independent (London, England), October 16, 2004, p. 56.

Los Angeles Times, October 16, 2004, p. B19.

New York Times, October 25, 2004, p. A23.

Times (London, England), October 15, 2004, p. 67.