FRANCIS RUSSELL, 2nd earl of Bedford (c. 1527-1585), was educated at King's Hall, Cambridge. He took his seat in the House of Lords as Lord Russell in 1552. Russell was in sympathy with the reformers, whose opinions he shared, and was in communica tion with Sir Thomas Wyat ; and was imprisoned during the earlier part of Mary's reign. He then visited Italy; came into touch with foreign reformers; and fought at the battle of St. Quentin in 1557. When Elizabeth ascended the throne, in Nov. 1558, the earl of Bedford, as Russell had been since 1555, became an active figure in public life. He was made a privy councillor, and was sent on diplomatic errands to Charles IX. of France and Mary queen of Scots. From Feb. 1564 to Oct. 1567 he was governor of Berwick and warden of the east marches of Scotland, in which capacity he conducted various negotiations between Elizabeth and Mary. When the northern insurrection broke out in 1569, Bedford was sent into Wales, and he sat in judgment upon the duke of Norfolk in 1572. In 1576 he was president of the Council of Wales, and in 1581 was one of the commissioners deputed to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth and Francis, duke of Anjou. Bedford died in London on July 28, 1585.