Talk:William Russell, Lord Russell

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Moved from Wikipedia:Cleanup - November 29, 2005[edit]

  • William Russell, Lord Russell - it's from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, so if I was to suggest that it was just bad writing, that would probably make me a philistine. Well, then, I'm a philistine....
    In January 1680, Russell, along with Cavendish, Capell, Powell, Essex and Lyttleton, tendered his resignation to the king, which was received by Charles with all my heart.
    Some of the references have become obscure over time, and some of the language is a little archaic, but more than this, I think this was just bad writing in 1911, and it's just bad writing now. TheMadBaron 09:48, 29 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]
  • I've done some fixing; more is needed. Besides the archaic language, the original article assumed a fairly intimate knowledge of English politics (e.g., mentioning "the country party" without any further explanation). But Russell was an important politician, so the article is clearly needed (and should not be shortened much more, I think). John Broughton 21:41, 2 December 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Article title[edit]

Seems a little clumsy. What about William, Lord Russell or Lord William Russell, both of which already redirect to here? --Dweller 16:04, 4 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As he was the younger son of a duke, the correct namespace is Lord William Russell. He was not 'William, Lord Russell' or 'Lord Russell'. The current article title treats him as if he were a life peer! I suggest someone moves it. 86.29.203.187 (talk) 17:08, 27 February 2009 (UTC) Actually, I am wrong, ignore that. Looking back through the article's history, it turns out that Lord Russell was a courtesy title that passed to him upon the death of his brother, a fact which someone decided helpfully to edit out at some point. As this happened in 1678 (according to the original article version), and his father wasn't created duke of bedford until 1694, he was never Lord William Russell, so I'm not sure why the redirect exists. The fact that he had a courtesy title held by the earl of bedford seems to have vanished from the article as it currently stands, as has the fact that his brother predeceased him. What left is the statement that he was the third son, which gives a misleading impression. I don't know why the relevant information was removed, by someone ought to put it back. 86.29.203.187 (talk) 17:26, 27 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
He had the courtesy title from 1678-1683, during much of the period when he was most prominent; so the article title is correct. I have altered the captions of the pictures to "William, Lord Russell". However several things about the article are unsatisfactory. It mentions colleagues, including Lyttleton (?Lyttelton), Hampden (who was linked to the correct person's grandfather), Powell (with a link to some one already dead), and Cavendish. These people need to be identified are correctly linked. Unfortunately they do not appear in the ODNB article. I hope to try to sort this out. Peterkingiron (talk) 01:05, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]
I have undertaken a major edit, using Dictionary of Natioanl Biography and other sources. I have sought to link all names, but may not have it quite right. I have omitted the reference to Lyttleton, presumably Sir Henry Lyttelton, 2nd Baronet, as he is not mentioned in the sources that I used. Peterkingiron (talk) 13:20, 6 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]