View source for Geoffrey Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill

{{Short description|British soldier, businessman and peer (1921–2011)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name             = The Lord Ampthill
| honorific_suffix = [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]] [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]]
| image            = File:Lord Ampthill 2008.jpg
| image_size       =
| caption          = Lord Ampthill in 2008
| order            =
| office1          = [[Member of the House of Lords]]
| status1          = [[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
| term_label1      = as a [[hereditary peerage]]
| term_start1      = 21 May 1976
| term_end1        = 11 November 1999
| predecessor1     = [[John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill|The 3rd Baron Ampthill]]
| successor1       = ''[[House of Lords Act 1999|Seat abolished]]''
| term_label2      = as an [[List of excepted hereditary peers|elected hereditary peer]]
| term_start2      = 11 November 1999
| term_end2        = 23 April 2011
| 1blankname2      = [[List of excepted hereditary peers|Election]]
| 1namedata2       = 1999
| predecessor2     = ''[[House of Lords Act 1999|Seat established]]''
| successor2       = [[Charles Colville, 5th Viscount Colville of Culross|The 5th Viscount Colville of Culross]]
<!-- Personal -->
| birth_name       = Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell
| birth_date       = 15 October 1921
| birth_place      =
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2011|4|23|1921|10|15|df=y}}
| death_place      =
| citizenship      =
| nationality      = [[United Kingdom|British]]
| party            = [[crossbencher|Crossbench]]
| spouse           = (1) Susan Winn; <br/> (2) Elisabeth Mallon
| partner          = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married-->
| children         = 4, including [[David Russell, 5th Baron Ampthill|David]]
| father           = [[John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill]]
| education        =
| alma_mater       = [[Stowe School]]
| occupation       =
| profession       =
| committees       =
| awards           = }}
'''Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron Ampthill''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|CBE|PC}} (15 October 1921 – 23 April 2011<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/theatre-obituaries/8474838/Lord-Ampthill.html| title = Lord Ampthill Obituary |work= [[The Daily Telegraph]]| accessdate =27 April 2011 | location=London | date=26 April 2011}}</ref>), was a British [[hereditary peer]] and businessman, whose paternity and succession to the peerage were disputed in the "[[Russell case|Ampthill baby case]]".
His father, [[John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill]], had petitioned to disclaim paternity whilst divorcing Russell's mother, [[Christabel Hulme Hart]], in 1923, claiming [[Consummation|non-consummation]]. The petition was rejected on appeal and Russell's mother was granted a declaration that he was legitimate.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071117114605/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,879625,00.html "Was Mother A Virgin?"]</ref>
Educated at [[Stowe School]], Russell served in the [[Irish Guards]] during the [[Second World War]], being commissioned as a captain in 1941. He served with the Guards Armoured Division in France in 1944, where he was wounded, and in Norway in 1945.<ref name="Telegraph" />
Russell was general manager of [[Fortnum & Mason]] from 1947 until resigning in 1951, then chairman of the New Providence Hotel until 1965. He made a career in theatrical management as owner/managing director of Linnet & Dunfee (which produced the original production of the musical hit ''[[Salad Days (musical)|Salad Days]]'') from 1953 until 1981. He was afterwards a director of [[United Business Media|United Newspapers]] and [[Express Newspapers]].<ref name="Telegraph" /> He was also Chairman of London's Helicopter Emergency Service.
Russell succeeded as [[Baron Ampthill]] in 1973, upon the death of his father. His succession was [[Russell case|unsuccessfully contested]] by his half-brother John Hugo Trenchard Russell, eldest son of the 3rd Baron's third marriage. The [[Committee for Privileges and Conduct|Committee for Privileges]] ruled in favour of Geoffrey in 1976.<ref name="Telegraph" />
In the [[House of Lords]], Ampthill sat as a [[crossbencher]]. He was a deputy speaker from 1983 and [[Chairman of Committees (House of Lords)|Chairman of Committees]] from 1992 to 1994.<ref name="Telegraph" /> He was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in 1986—following in the footsteps of his father who was also appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire|CBE]]—and made a [[Privy Counsellor]] in 1995. Following the passage of the [[House of Lords Act 1999]] which removed the majority of hereditary peers from the House, Ampthill was one of the [[List of excepted hereditary peers|ninety hereditaries elected]] to continue to sit. He was one of fifteen peers elected by the whole house to be available to serve as deputy speakers and office holders.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.election.demon.co.uk/lords.html| title = House of Lords Act: Hereditary Peers Elections - Election of 15 Peers by the Whole House| accessdate = 27 April 2011| archive-date = 26 February 2000| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20000226142155/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/lords.html| url-status = dead}}</ref>
In 1946, Ampthill married Susan Winn, a granddaughter of the [[Rowland Winn, 2nd Baron St Oswald|2nd Baron St Oswald]] and the [[Almeric Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough|1st Baron Queenborough]], whom he divorced in 1971; they had three sons and a daughter. He then married Elisabeth Mallon in 1972, divorcing her in 1987. He was succeeded in the title by his first-born son [[David Russell, 5th Baron Ampthill|David Russell]].<ref name="Telegraph" />
==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare|The Lord Aberdare]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Senior Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords#Chairmen of Committees|Chairman of Committees of the House of Lords]]|years=1992–1994}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Terence Boston, Baron Boston of Faversham|The Lord Boston of Faversham]]}}
{{s-new|office|reason=''created by the [[House of Lords Act 1999]]''}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of excepted hereditary peers|Elected hereditary peer]] to the [[House of Lords]]<br>'''''under the [[House of Lords Act 1999]]'''''|years=1999–2011}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Colville, 5th Viscount Colville of Culross|The Viscount Colville of Culross]]}}
{{s-reg|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Russell, 3rd Baron Ampthill|John Russell]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baron Ampthill]]|years=1973–2011|lords=1973–1999}}
{{s-aft|after=[[David Russell, 5th Baron Ampthill|David Russell]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ampthill, Geoffrey Denis Erskine Russell, 4th Baron}}
[[Category:1921 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:Barons Ampthill|4]]
[[Category:Irish Guards officers]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at Stowe School]]
[[Category:Russell family|G]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Ampthill]]
[[Category:Crossbench hereditary peers]]
[[Category:Hereditary peers elected under the House of Lords Act 1999]]