Family/Spouse: Francis (Marquess of Tavistock) Russell. Francis (son of John (4th Duke of Bedford) Russell and Gertrude Levenson-Gower) was born in 1739; died in 1767. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Francis (5th Duke of Bedford) Russell was born on 23 Jul 1765; and died.
2. John (6th Duke of Bedford) Russell was born on 6 Jul 1766; died on 20 Oct 1839.
3. William Russell was born in 1767; and died.

William + Anne (Countess of Albemarle) Lennox. Anne (daughter of Charles (1st Duke of Richmond) Lennox and Anne Brudenell) died on 20 Oct 1789. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

For the sources of information, see in this file under "INFORMATION,Sources of" and also "INFORMATION, General Clan Genealogy ".

Which includes
Royal and Noble Genealogical Data on the Web
http://www.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/
Index to royal Genealogical Data - ordered by lastname" atwww.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/royal/gedx.html
Peerages in Order of Precedence atwww.dcs.hull.ac.uk/public/genealogy/royal/peerage.html
Author: Brian Tompsett
This contains a huge amount of information including a great deal onBritish Peer's lineages, and Royal families of the many countries.

Royal Genealogies -- Menu
http://ftp.cac.psu.edu/~saw/royal/royalgen.html#index
The site has a huge amount of information. Not as complete as "Royal andNoble Genealogical Data on the Web" but much quicker to move around in.
By: Denis R. Reid, 149 Kimrose Lane, Broadview Heights, Ohio 44147-1258
Internet Email address: ah189@cleveland.freenet.edu
(216) 237-5364


"Britain's Royal Families. The Complete Genealogy". Alison Weir, 1996.Pimlico. Random House.

Charles married Anne Brudenell before 10 Jan 1692. Anne (daughter of Francis Lord Brudenell and Susan Villers) died on 9 Dec 1722. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

For a listing of web sites that have the genealogy of family lines ofroyal houses, many noble houses and more, go to the entry "INFORMATION,Royal Houses family lines web sites" in this file.

"Charles II (1630 - 1685)

Charles II Charles II, as the oldest surviving son of Charles I, spentpart of the English Civil War (1642-6) fighting on his father's behalf inthe West of England, most notably at the Battle of Edgehill (1642). Hewas forced into exile - travelling first to the Isles of Scilly andJersey. (It was in Jersey that he met the mistress who was eventually togive birth to his son, James, Duke of Monmouth.)

From exile in France, Charles attempted to save his condemned father'slife by presenting to Parliament a signed blank sheet of paper, whichwould have allowed the government to agree to whatever terms would savehis father's life.

After his father's execution in 1649, and after he agreed to makePresbyterianism the religion of England and Scotland, Charles wasproclaimed King of Scotland - and some parts of England and Ireland - atScone, in 1651. Two years later, he invaded England, and fought Cromwellat the Battle of Worcester.

Defeated, Charles once again fled to France, where he lived a poorexistence. Eventually he moved to Germany and then to the SpanishNetherlands.

In 1660, Charles's restoration to the throne was engineered by GeneralGeorge Monck, an English soldier who had fought for Cromwell, butrealised the importance of the monarchy in rebuilding the country.Charles returned to London on his birthday, 29 May 1660.

The King's desire for religious toleration (due in large part to hisleanings toward Roman Catholicism) was overwhelmed by the new parliament.Royalist in nature, they passed the Clarendon code, which ensuredAnglicanism as the state religion and threatened non-conformists. CharlesII tried to increase religious tolerance with his Declaration ofIndulgence, but was forced to withdraw it.

He entered into a series of diplomatic deals, first with the creation ofan alliance between Holland and Sweden. At the same time, without theknowledge of Parliament, he negotiated the Treaty of Dover with LouisXIV.

In this secret treaty he agreed, in exchange for ?200,000 a year, toconvert to Catholicism, along with his brother James (the future JamesII), and to continue to war against the Dutch.

He further attempted to encourage Catholic freedom with the passing ofanother Declaration of Indulgence, but Parliament overruled him, and cameback with further controls against Catholicism, this time forbiddingCatholics from sitting in Parliament. The King's alliance with Louis ofFrance was forcibly ended at this point, with the brokered marriage ofCharles's niece, Mary, to the Protestant William of Orange - arch rivalof Louis.

By 1678, anti-Catholic sentiment was at the highest point in Charles'sreign. Over the next three years, his royal family line suffered manychallenges to its existence, with innumerable threats from Parliament.The period saw the rise of the Whigs (who wanted James excluded from thesuccession) and the Tories (who wanted no change). In 1681, Charlesdissolved Parliament for the last time. From henceforth he ruled as anabsolute monarch, and found himself popular with his subjects once again.

As well as these domestic problems, his reign also saw the rise ofcolonisation and trade in India, the East Indies and America (where theBritish captured New York from the Dutch in 1664), and the passage ofNavigation Acts that secured Britain's future as a sea-power.

The king had a hedonistic character - he had numerous mistresses andillegitimate children, and loved racing and gambling - and this led tohim having a considerable influence on Restoration art and literature."
From BBC athttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/charles_ii_king.shtml


BRITANNIA GATEWAYS
at http://www.britannia.com/history/charmist.html

THE MISTRESSES OF CHARLES II
by Brenda Ralph Lewis

Monarchs and mistresses were an expected combination when royal wiveswere chosen for dynastic or political rather than for personal reasons.However, even by the permissive standards this implied, King Charles II(1630-1685) was an extraordinarily active monarch, who ran more than onemistress in harness at a time and made no secret of his fourteenillegitimate children. Charles started young, at eighteen, when he was inexile in France following Parliament's victory in the Civil War againsthis father, Charles I. There, in his idleness, Charles had little to dobut womanise. The first pretty girl to catch his eye and the first of atleast fifteen mistresses, was a Welshwoman, Lucy Walter whom he met inThe Hague in the summer of 1648. Lucy took up with Charles shortly afterhis arrival , and in 1649 gave birth to his first child, James, laterDuke of Monmouth. Lucy was her lover's constant companion, but he madethe mistake of leaving her behind when he left The Hague in 1650. Hereturned to find she had been intriguing with a certain Colonel HenryBennet. Charles ended the affaire there and then, leaving Lucy to a lifeof prostitution. She died, probably of venereal disease, in 1658.
Charles, meanwhile, moved on to other mistresses and enjoyed at leastfour more before his exile ended and he was recalled to England to becomeking in 1660. The list of illicit royal affaires burgeoned after that,and came to typify the unbuttoned society which grew up around therestored monarch. Joyless puritans did not berate Charles as 'that greatenemy of chastity and marriage' for nothing, One of the spectacles at hiscourt was Charles ' toying with his mistresses,' and surrounded by hisfavourite spaniels. For a scene of decadence, that took some beating.

Charles was not fussy about the status of his women. A pretty face and acomely figure were enough for a mistress to be taken on the strength, andhe was particularly prone to actresses. . The stage provided a handyhunting- ground for the regular royal theatregoer, and it was here thatCharles encountered Moll Davis in about 1667. Moll was a popularsinger-dancer- comedienne, but she had her dark side. Mrs. Pepys, wife ofSamuel Pepys the diarist, called her 'the most impertinent slut in theworld' and she was grasping and vulgar with it. Moll flaunted her successas a royal mistress, showing off her 'mighty pretty fine coach' and aring worth the then vast sum of ?600.

Moll , who gave up the stage in 1668, had a daughter by Charles thefollowing year but soon fell foul of Nell Gwynne, one of the King'sconcurrent mistresses, who had a wicked sense of humour. Hearing thatMoll was due to sleep with the king on a night early in 1668, Nellinvited her to eat some sweetmeats she had prepared. Unknown to Moll, herrival had mixed in a hefty dose of the laxative jalap. After that, thenight in the royal bed did not exactly go as planned. Charles, too, had asharp sense of humour, but this time, he was not amused and Moll wassummarily dismissed. Being a generous man, though, Charles sent Mollpacking with a pension of ?1,000 a year.

However, Nell herself was the target of some opposition from another ofthe royal mistresses, the high and mighty Louise de Keroualle who beratedCharles for taking up with this coarse, common 'orange wench'. Nell'sname for Louise who had a slight cast in on eye, was Squintabella.Another name Nell gave her was 'weeping willow', since Louise would usetears to prise some gift or favour from the King. Both nicknamesinfuriated Louise, but amused Charles.

Yet the fact remained that Louise was socially more exalted than Nell,who had emerged from the squalor of London's east end as first, a whorein a bawdy house, next a theatre orange-seller, then an actress beforebecoming a royal mistress. The daughter of a Breton family of ancient anddistinguished lineage, Louise was maid of honour to the Duchess ofOrleans, Charles' sister,who took her her to England in 1670. The Kingfell for Louise's baby- faced beauty on sight and she became maitresse entitre - official mistress - in 1671.The following year she gave birth toher first child, Charles Lennox, later Duke of Richmond. Louise herselfwas created Duchess of Portsmouth.

Louise, however, had an agenda of her own.She attempted to persuadeCharles to become an Catholic, a suicidal move in strongly ProtestantEngland. Charles was canny enough to resist, despite his own Catholicleanings. But Louise had fingers in other pies. She reportedly engineeredthe disgrace of the prominent courtier, the Duke of Buckingham and in1677, another of Charles' mistresses, Barbara Villiers, Duchess ofCleveland. She fought off several rivals, including the Duchess ofMazarin, a further mistress, and the young Duke of Monmouth. Sheingratiated herself, sometimes through sexual favours, with powerful men,including the influential statesman the Earl of Danby.

. Meanwhile, Louise was building a substantial nest-egg. She enjoyed asplendid apartment at Whitehall Palace, which was redesigned three timesto satisfy her expensive tastes. In addition, she was allowed ?40,000 ayear from the royal coffers. In total, the rapacious Louise accumulatedover ?136,668 from her royal connection.

Barbara Villiers, later Countess of Castlemaine and Duchess of Clevelandwas another beauty with a less than beautiful disposition. Barbara, aViscount's daughter, was already married when she met Charles soon afterhis return to England in 1660. When Charles' future queen, Catherine ofBraganza arrived from Portugal in 1662, Barbara appears to have beenheavily pregnant by him. She gave birth to a son on 18 June, five weeksafter Catherine's arrival. That same day, the Queen visited Barbara inher apartment at Hampton Court, and was so shocked to see the newbornchild that she threw a fit and had to be carried out.

Charles had a dichotomous attitude towards Barbara. Although , likeLouise, she was never faithful to her royal lover, the King used to visitBarbara four nights a week at her apartments in Whitehall. When hersecond son was born in 1663, Charles denied paternity but neverthelessgave Barbara lavish Christmas presents the same year. Yet the couple hadferocious arguments and she was not above threatening Charles. When shewas expecting another child in 1667, Barbara swore that if he deniedpaternity again, she would dash the infant's brains out. Barbara's powerover Charles was such that he went down on his knees to be 'pardoned' forhis very well-founded suspicions.

Ultimately, Barbara's demands were so great, her temper so fierce and herinfidelities so brazen that Charles tired of her. Louise de Keroualle wason to a surefire thing when she conspired to get her rival removed fromcourt. Barbara left for Paris in the spring of 1677, to embark on moreliaisons which produced yet more children until her tally totalled seven,fathered by at least six different men. Her husband was not one of them.

No mistress could have been more different from these haughty graspingbeauties than the kindhearted, faithful, diverting Nell Gwynne. She firstmet Charles at the Duke's House theatre in 1668 .He was enchanted by theunaffected girl Pepys later called 'pretty, witty Nell' and before long,they became lovers. Nell was totally committed to the King, so much sothat she punched the Duke of Buckingham over the ear when he tried tokiss her. Buckingham was not the only would-be seducer at court, but likehim, all of them found Nell was completely uninterested.

Charles never tired of Nell, who gave him two more sons, andunderstandably so. Although he lavished two fine homes on her, one ofthem in London's Pall Mall, she never treated them like prizes orpersonal gains to be flaunted, but as places where he could relax andenjoy what his other mistresses never gave him - a real home and aninteresting social life.

When Nell used her influence with Charles, it was often in the cause ofothers. She persuaded him, for instance, to free the disgraced Duke ofBuckingham from prison and campaigned for the foundation of the RoyalHospital, Chelsea after coming across an old soldier begging in thestreet. Her great worry, though - and his - was their twenty year agegap. On his deathbed in 1685, the King begged his brother and successor,James 'Do not let poor Nelly starve.' James generously paid Nell's debtsand gave her an allowance, but it was not for long. Nell survived herking by only two years. She died of 'the pox' in 1687, aged 37.Afterwards, Nell became something of a legend, as a goodnatured charmer,and an ordinary girl from the slums who was probably the only mistress ofKing Charles who truly loved him.

From http://www.britannia.com/history/charmist.html

RHYME TO REMEMBER THEM BY

Willy, Willy, Harry, Ste,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry three,
One, two, three Neds, Richard two,
Henries four, five, six - then who?
Edwards four, five, Dick the bad,
Harries twain and Ned the lad,
Mary, Bessie, James the vain,
Charlie, Charlie, James again,
William & Mary, Anna Gloria,
Four Georges, William and Victoria,
Edward, George, then Ned the eighth
quickly goes and abdicat'th,
leaving George, then Liz the second,
and with Charlie next it's reckoned.

That's the way our monarchs lie
since Harold got it in the eye!

PS. Sorry, Lady Jane Grey - you got the chop!

This rhyme has been rememorised by British school children for a greatmany years. In this version the current Royal family has been added. Itcomes from "English Monarchs Dates & Ages" by John Owen Smith athttp://www.johnowensmith.co.uk/histdate/monarchs.htm

Charles + Louise Renee (De Kerouaille) De Penancoet. Louise (daughter of Guillaume (Comte De Keroualle) De Penancoet and Marie Anne De Ploeuc) was born on 6 Sep 1649 in K?rouaille, Bretagne; died on 14 Nov 1734 in Paris, Seine, France; was buried in Carmelite Church, Paris, Seine, France.. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Louise Renee de Penancoet de Keroualle (Duchess of Portsmouth andAubigny) was born in September 1649. She was from an aristocratic Frenchfamily who lived in Brittany, France. Her parents were Guillaume dePenancoet conte de Keroualle and Marie-Anne (nee de Ploeuc).(3) Louisefirst met Charles II when she went to England in the Spring of 1670. Shetravelled in the retinue of the King's sister, Henrietta Anne, Duchess ofOrleans, who had gone to England to finalise the Treaty of Dover.(4) KingCharles II was so overcome by Louise's beauty and charm that whenHenrietta offered the king one of her priceless jewels as a souvenir ofher visit, he referred to Louise and said 'she is the only jewel Icovet'.(5) After Henrietta's death Louis XIV sent Louise to England tocomfort the king and to be Maid of Honour to the Queen, Catherine ofBraganza.

By 1671 Louise had replaced Barbara Villiers as the king's mistress whichwas celebrated by a mock wedding ceremony. Louise's new position providedFrance with a connection to the English monarchy and government.(6) Noevidence has been found to identify the patron of the painting. It mayhave been commissioned by Louis XIV of France as a gift for King CharlesII of England. Louis was responsible for sending Louise to England to beCharles II's mistress and he would have been keen to form a politicalconnection with England. It is also possible that Charles II could havebeen the patron as he was obsessed with his new mistress and would havebeen keen to display her image, either for his own delight or to show heroff in society, which would add to his power and status as King. Louisemay have commissioned the painting as she would have been interested inpromoting her new-found standing in society and expressing the power thatultimately went with that position. Louise became the most influentialwomen at Charles' court.(7)

The portrait of Louise de Keroualle may have been painted in 1671 ratherthan 1670 to commemorate the mock wedding. In the painting Louise holdsout her right hand as if she is going to hold that of the person next toher. The symbolism of this hand gesture was understood to refer tomarriage and was often used in portraiture at the time. Her body isangled slightly to the left of the picture, suggesting that she isturning towards an absent partner.

There are other symbolic elements in this painting. The dog, a KingCharles Spaniel relates to the king's name, Charles, after whom the breedwas named. Dogs often symbolised loyalty. Henrietta, the King's sister,owned spaniels and was often depicted holding one which showed herloyalty to her brother.(8) In the Middle Ages dogs symbolised maritalfidelity.(9) Above Louise's outstretched hand there is a mythologicalfigure who pours water from a pitcher into a large urn beneath. Thefigure, a naked boy with a strap around his chest, is probably that ofCupid who symbolised budding love.(10) Love is also symbolised by therose. In Louise's portrait there is a flower by her right hand whichcould be a rose. Roses, the emblem of Venus, the Goddess of Love, canalso indicate purity and were often included in bridal portraits in theseventeenth century.(11) The water pouring from the pitcher may alsosymbolise purity, but it can also be associated with life and fertility.Water is a cleansing element used in the sacrament of baptism to washaway sin. It is a Catholic belief that 'ritually consecrated water canbring divine blessings'.(12) As Louise was a Catholic, this idea may haveappealed to her. By the inclusion of these symbolic elements the artistmay have intended any one of these meanings to be read by the viewer.

The primary viewer of the painting would, undoubtedly, have been Louise'slover, King Charles II of England. The painting could have been intendedfor his private viewing, in which case it would probably have hung in aprivate setting such as his bedroom where he could take pleasure fromviewing his beautiful, alluring new mistress. Louise's eyes engagedirectly with the viewer. Her young, beautiful face reveals a coy, demureand pleasing expression. The low-cut dress reveals the soft delicatewhite skin of her breast. Her hair brushes sensuously around her bareneck and a ringlet falls onto her breast. This painting, depicting abeautiful, young, woman, would have been a delight for any noble man toadmire.

The admiration of attractive court ladies was common at the court ofCharles II where sexual freedom abounded. In fact, Castiglione, theultimate courtier who wrote a book on court protocol and etiquette,advised that portraits of women were 'a necessary adornment to Courtlife'.(13) At the court of Charles II women's beauty, depicted inportraits, was publicly displayed and was admired for its sensual appealrather than for the spiritual virtues that were depicted in Van Dyck'sfemale portraits at the Court of Charles I.(14) It was the king'sprerogative to have many mistresses, but having a French mistress couldhave strengthened the king's political position. As King Charles II wasproud of, and obsessed with, his new mistress, he may have had theportrait hung in a public space where he could show off his newacquisition for all to admire.

Other mistresses of the king had been admired at court. Often theirportraits were painted by the popular court painter of the era, Sir PeterLely. Lely's portraits of the 1660s showed some individuality of thesubject's face and dress. However, the portraits of the 1670s became morestandardised in composition as Lely tried to cope with the huge demandfor his work. In his standard versions the facial features of the sitterwere based on that of Barbara Villiers, whom Lely considered beautiful.The 'heavy brows and hooded, almond-shaped eyes'(15) appear in many ofLely's portraits. The head was slightly angled to one side so that theeyes glanced out sideways to meet the viewer. In portraits dated after1670, the hairstyle was usually parted in the middle, flat on the top ofthe head with curls cascading down the back of the neck and around theshoulders. It was believed that Louise may have been the trend-setter forthis particular style as it was not in vogue before her arrival inEngland and her French manners and style were often emulated.(16) Lelytypically dressed the sitter in a loose-fitting informal type of silkygown which lacked lace, embroidery of any fussy detail that wastime-consuming to paint. The informality of the dress indicated the highstatus of the sitter. People of lower rank could not appear moreinformally dressed than their betters.(17) The dress, usually low-cut,sensuously accentuated the line of the body underneath the dress. Thesitter was often shown in three-quarter length or sitting in a minimallypainted landscape setting posing as a shepherdess or a Venus.

From "Portrait of Louise de Keroualle by Pauline Ward" athttp://www.nzartmonthly.co.nz/ward_001.html

Notes:

Married:
1 _MSTAT Friends

Francis + Susan Villers. Susan (daughter of Christopher (1st Earl of Anglesey) Villers) and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]