Charles Lethbridge Kingsford

“ As a trusted minister of Edward IV., he was one of the executors of the king's will; but on the 13th of May 1483 he accepted the office of chancellor in the interest of Richard of Gloucester, apparently with great reluctance. He retained the great seal till the 29th of July 1485. Russell was above all things an official, and was sometimes employed by Henry VII. in public affairs. But his last years were occupied chiefly with the business of his diocese, and of the university of Oxford, of which he had been elected chancellor in 1483. ”

“ For contemporary notices see especially More's Life of Richard III., the Continuation of the Croyland Chronicle, ap. Freeman Scriptores, and Bentley's Excerpta Historica, pp. 16–17. See also Wood's History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford, and T. Kirby, Winchester Scholars, and Annals of Winchester College. There are modern biographies in Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors, and Foss's Judges of England. ”