FRANCIS RUSSELL, 5th duke of Bedford (1765-1802), eldest son of Francis Russell, marquess of Tavistock (d. 1767), by his wife, Elizabeth (d. 1768), daughter of William Keppel, end earl of Albemarle, was baptized on July 23, 1765. In Jan. 1771 he suc ceeded his grandfather as duke of Bedford, and was educated at Westminster school and Trinity college, Cambridge, afterwards spending nearly two years in foreign travel. Regarding Charles James Fox as his political leader, he joined the Whigs in the House of Lords, and became a member of the circle of the prince of Wales, afterwards George IV. Bedford was greatly interested in agriculture. He established a model farm at Woburn, and made experiments with regard to the breeding of sheep. He was a member of the original board of agriculture, and was the first president of the Smithfield club. He died at Woburn on March 2, 1802, and was buried in the family burying-place at Chenies. The duke was never married, and was succeeded in the title by his brother John.
See J. H. Wiffen, Historical Memoirs of the House of Russell (1833) ; E. Burke, Letter to a Noble Lord (1837) ; Lord Holland, Memoirs of the Whig Party (1854) ; and Earl Stanhope, Life of Pitt (1861-62).