Samuel Whitbread was a British politician.
Duke of Bedford is a title that has been created six times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. In 1433 he surrendered the title and it was re-granted to him. The title became extinct on his death in 1435. The third creation came in 1470 in favour of George Neville, nephew of Warwick the Kingmaker. He was deprived of the title by Act of Parliament in 1478. The fourth creation came in 1478 in favour of George, the third son of Edward IV. He died the following year at the age of two. The fifth creation came in 1485 in favour of Jasper Tudor, half-brother of Henry VI and uncle of Henry VII. He had already been created Earl of Pembroke in 1452. However, as he was a Lancastrian, his title was forfeited between 1461 and 1485 during the predominance of the House of York. He regained the earldom in 1485 when his nephew Henry VII came to the throne and was elevated to the dukedom the same year. He had no legitimate children and the titles became extinct on his death in 1495.
Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG of Chenies in Buckinghamshire and of Bedford House in Exeter, Devon, was an English nobleman, soldier, and politician. He was a godfather to the Devon-born sailor Sir Francis Drake. He served as Lord Lieutenant of Devon (1584-5).
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford, was a British Whig statesman and peer who served as the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1757 to 1761. A leading member of the Whig party during the Seven Years' War, he negotiated the 1763 Treaty of Paris which ended the conflict. Bedford was also an early promoter of cricket and a patron of the arts who commissioned numerous works from prominent artists, most notably Canaletto.
Andrew Ian Henry Russell, 15th Duke of Bedford is a British peer and landowner. His main estate is based at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire. He ranked 210 on the 2024 Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated fortune of £801 million.
John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford,, known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the father of Prime Minister John Russell, 1st Earl Russell.
General Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Harrington, styled Viscount Petersham until 1779, was a British Army officer and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1779 when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Harrington.
Sir John Osborn, 5th Baronet, of Chicksands Priory in Bedfordshire, was an English politician.
William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford KG PC was an English nobleman and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 until 1641 when he inherited his Peerage as 5th Earl of Bedford and removed to the House of Lords. He fought in the Parliamentarian army and later defected to the Royalists during the English Civil War.
Francis Charles Hastings Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford KG was an English politician and agriculturalist.
George William Francis Sackville Russell, 10th Duke of Bedford DL was a British peer and politician. He was the son of Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford and Lady Elizabeth Sackville-West.
William Henry Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland, KG, styled Viscount Barnard until 1792 and known as The Earl of Darlington between 1792 and 1827 and as The Marquess of Cleveland between 1827 and 1833, was a British landowner, slave holder and politician.
Lord Arthur John Edward Russell was a British Liberal Party politician.
Major-General Lord George William Russell was a British soldier, politician and diplomat. He was the second son of the 6th Duke of Bedford and brother to John Russell, the Whig and Liberal Prime Minister. Among his children were Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford, Arthur Russell, MP and diplomat Odo Russell.
Francis Almeric Spencer, 1st Baron Churchill DCL FRS was a British peer and Whig politician from the Spencer family.
Francis Russell, Marquess of Tavistock was a British politician and heir apparent to the dukedom of Bedford until his death in 1767.
George Henry Charles Byng, 3rd Earl of Strafford, styled Viscount Enfield between 1860 and 1886, was a British Liberal politician.
John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory FRS DL, styled 'Lord Gowran' from 1751 to 1758, was an Irish peer and member of parliament.
St Andrew St John, 14th Baron St John of Bletso PC FRS was an English politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 until 1806 when he inherited a peerage.
The Bedfordshire Militia, later the Bedfordshire Light Infantry was an auxiliary military regiment in the English county of Bedfordshire. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands, in 1572 and their service during the Armada Crisis and in the English Civil War, the Militia of Bedfordshire served during times of international tension and all of Britain's major wars. The regiment provided internal security and home defence, relieving regular troops from routine garrison duties and acting as a source of trained officers and men for the Regular Army. It later became a battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment, and prepared thousands of reinforcements for the fighting battalions of the regiment in World War I. After 1921 the militia had only a shadowy existence until its final abolition in 1953.
