Charles Russell (22 July 1786 – 15 May 1856) was a British Conservative and Tory politician.
Family Russell was the second surviving son of Sir Henry Russell, 1st Baronet and his second wife, Anna Barbara Whitworth, sister of Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth. He never married and had no issue.
Military career Described by memoirist William Hickey as a "fine dashing youth", Russell entered as a cadet in the British Indian Army in 1800, becoming an ensign in the 17th Infantry (The Loyal Regiment) in 1801, and a lieutenant in the 21st Bengal Native Infantry 1803. In July 1810, he was appointed to the command of the escort at Hyderabad, and also took temporary responsibility for the residency's business until his brother, Sir Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet arrived from his post at Poona.
Becoming a captain in 1818, Russell then took furlough in 1817, returning to the United Kingdom via Saint Helena, where he witnessed Napoleon—who had then been exiled to the island—walking in front of his house in Longwood. Russell declined to meet Napoleon after being told he must address the former revolutionary leader as 'General'.
Upon return to England, Russell lived mostly in London, and formally retired from the army in 1822, then becoming a proprietor of East India Company stock.
Corruption scandal Alongside his brother, Henry, Russell was implicated in a corruption scandal where Lord Hastings, a Governor-General of India, was alleged to have acted partially on behalf of Palmer and Company, a Hyderabad banking house. The Russells were found to have to have been involved in and profited from the firm's dealings with the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Akbar Ali Khan, directly from Hastings' 1816 decision to exempt the house from a ban on lending money to native princes. Henry Russell's successor, Sir Charles Metcalfe, discovered a loan in 1820 that was both fictitious and fraudulent.
An investigation was launched by the East India Company, which in 1824 ordered the relevant papers to be printed. Henry Russell launched a defence of himself and his brother, Charles, titled Letter to the Court of Directors, arguing the allegations had arisen from "acrimonious party spirit" and complaining that no opportunity had been granted to defend themselves. The matter was debated in court in February 1825, where Henry defended the pair, and they were both absolved in a move designed to avoid a charge of peculation against Hastings.
Political career Colchester and Reading, 1826 Shortly after, Henry Russell was approached to contest the 1826 general election at Colchester but this was blocked by his father if it resulted in a contest. Charles offered to stand for the seat in Henry's place, noting he would resign from the race if it resulted in a contest, if this would ensure the Hyderabad affair was not raised in parliament, but he was "not very solicitous about it" and did not mention this idea to their father.
Brother Henry vetoed the idea, regardless, arguing there was too high a risk of being involved in a difficult contest, especially against the Radical sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Daniel Whittle Harvey, who had previously attacked their father in 1820 and had since become interested in the Hyderabad affair—and was likely to exploit it in order to "defame" Charles. Despite this, Henry recommended Charles to seek election at any other "close seat at a fair price", not seeing the Indian scandal as a barrier to a political career.
Charles Russell, however, believed there was little chance of a contest at Colchester, but decided not to stand, arguing it was in Harvey's "interest as much as ours to keep things quiet", and said:
At the same general election, but at Reading, Henry Russell and his wife actively supported the canvas of Tory candidate George Spence, who opposed Catholic emancipation, in a bid to remove the sitting Whig MP Charles Fyshe Palmer. The campaign was successful, although Spence was removed just nine months later via an election petition issued by Fyshe Palmer. Henry intervened in a bid to, at some point, also stand for the borough, but Charles warned him to procee cautiously and avoid being "drawn into the town set". At a celebration dinner in July of that year, Henry professed support for Catholic emancipation, and accused Fyshe Palmer and John Monck—a radical Whig MP for the borough—of seeking to obstruct a liberalising government. Charles complimented his brother on the speech, saying:
1827–1830 The following year, Charles accompanied his brother on a tour of Flanders, Germany, Switzerland and France. The year after, he went to Dover to investigate the possibility of standing for the borough constituency, but decided against doing so. He was then approached by a stockbroker cousin of Southampton Tory MP Abel Rous Dottin to purchase a £63,000 property in an unnamed borough, which was said to guarantee the occupier command of 214 electors of both seats. A peerage was also on offer for a further £40,000, but Russell reported to his brother that nothing came of the "gross fudge".
In 1829, Russell again received an offer from the same source to allow himself, or Henry, to gain the seat of Leominster upon the retirement of Tory MP Rowland Stephenson. Russell was not convinced by assurances that there would be no contest and so did not pursue the matter.
MP for Reading 1830–1831 In the following year, Tory MP Spence told Russell that the Tory government's Chief Whip, William Holmes, was seeking to understand whether Henry "wished to be in parliament" and, if so, would support the Wellington–Peel Ministry. The result of these conversations, however, was that Charles was elected Tory MP for Reading at that year's general election, when Monck retired and, in an about-face, recommended the Whig Stephen Lushington to replace him.
At the hustings for the election, Russell addressed accusations that he was an advocate of West Indian slavery and the "promoter of monopoly" by the East India Company, stating he "utterly abhorred" slavery but that abolishing it required a "measure for the protection of British property". He added he had no "tie to bind him" to the company and its interests. After a bitter and prolonged contest, caused by the referral of disputed votes to the assessor, Russell secured the seat and claimed it had been "rescued... from the intolerable burden which oppressed it", claiming he would "go to Parliament a free and independent member".
To his brother, he expressed:
At a celebration dinner in September of that year, he observed there were many differences still remaining between the Tories and Whigs, and added that the Whigs:
He sought to convinced moderate Whigs that "we are no more enamoured than they are of a despotic power, but that we would only so temper our love of civil liberty, as to prevent freedom from degenerating into licence, anarchy and revolution". The Wellington ministry saw Russell was one of their "friends" and, in October 1830, he met with the Patronage Secretary, Joseph Planta, who reported to Henry Russell that he was "courteous and complimentary".
Russell did not attend a constituency meeting the next day, at which a petition calling for repeal of the house and window taxes was presented. Upon hearing of this, Russell observed to his brother that "my troubles begin to thicken on me" and that the petition was "hard under a declining revenue to force on a minister specific repeals of taxation". Despite this, he agreed to present the petition, and any others, but refused to pledge himself to it "until I see what measures are proposed by the government". Russell also avoided an anti-slavery petition organised by local quakers, pleading he had a prior engagement in London, and adding:
Russell avoided another meeting, on the same day, on the subject of reform, at which Palmer was present.
Russell did not take his seat in the House of Commons until October 1830, and immediately shared in the belief that the government had acted "foolishly" on cancelling the royal visit to the City of London on 9 November of that year. Yet, he struggled on the problem of distress" noting it was "severe" among "parts of the agricultural population" but was "by no means general". He concluded that he should say little on the matter, particularly with petitions from constituents pending, and noted the government had few speakers supporting its position on the matter.
In November, he voted silently with the ministers on the civil list, but the vote failed and the government was brought down, leading to a Whig government formed by Lord Grey. In the same month, as he had feared, a petition was lodged against his election, alleging bribery and corruption, but this was not persevered as its promoters believed parliament would be dissolved and an election would be called. Russell admitted this was a "great relief", but he remained anxious that accounts should be settled and care should be taken when "making illegal payments".
While this concern was over, he faced further wrath from his constituents who, as the Berkshire Chronicle reported, were "disappointed" at his vote on the civil. Russell was prepared to defend himself, arguing the vote had not been "a question of economy" but one of "whether the Duke of Wellington or Lord Grey should be premier", adding "I should have been a coward and traitor if I had not voted as I did", if the liberal Reading Mercury attacked the vote. No action was taken immediately, but Russell came under "very unreasonable" fire from his leading friends, who were "greviously offended". In an explanation to his brother, Russell said:
In any event, Russell was prepared to go to Reading in person to pacify his critics, if his brother approved, and when he was denounced by the Reading Mercury at the end of the month, he wrote a written reply for the Berkshire Chronicle—and considered whether to couple this with an attack on the new government. Nevertheless, he decided that there was a "desire to give a fair trial" to the new government, noting "the opinion of the necessity of economy and reform seems universal and prevails with both parties". He told his brother "we must manage any attack on the present ministry cautiously".
He continued to contemplate a speech on the assessed taxes and whether to present a scheme for their modification, and regarded the Chronicle article as "capital", but disregarded an idea by his chief agent, Alfred Compigne, that he should justify his vote in a public letter to constituents. He said:
In December 1830, Russell both presented an anti-slavery petition from the women of Reading and asked if there was any prospect of a Reading reform meeting, noting he "has always been favourable to granting representatives to the large unrepresented towns", believing this would "prove the means of checking the torrent of reform".
By the start of 1831, Russell was still busy trying to finalise his election accounts and, alarmed by reports of plans to dissolve parliament, he planned to return to Reading. His brother advised him and Monck to make a plea to the Home Secretary Lord Melbourne to provide clemency to the so-called 'Swing' rioters who had been sentenced to death at a recent special commission.