Background
Russell was the second son of Odo Russell, later the first Baron Ampthill, by Lady Emily Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon.
Russell was the second son of Odo Russell, later the first Baron Ampthill, by Lady Emily Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon.
Russell entered the Diplomatic Service in 1892 and served in Rome, Athens, Street St. Petersburg, Berlin, Buenos Aires and Vienna, where he held the rank of counsellor from 1909 to 1915. In 1910, while he was stationed in Vienna, Russell married Countess Marie Louise Rex, daughter of Count Rex, the Saxon Minister at the Austro-Hungarian Court. They had three sons.
He was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) in 1909, Companion of the Order of the Bath (Central Bank) in 1916, Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order) in 1923 and Knight Commander of the Order of Street Michael and Street George (Knight Commander of the Order of Street Michael and Saint George) in 1926.
He was then Diplomatic Secretary to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1915 to 1919, Minister at Bern from 1919 to 1922, Minister to the Holy See from 1922 to 1928 and Minister at The Hague from 1928 to 1933 (the last three posts were equivalent to modern ambassadorships).
