BEDFORD, FRANCIS RUSSELL, 5TH DUKE OF

born July 23, 1765 died March 2, 1802, Woburn, Bedford, Eng. eldest son of Francis Russell (d. 1767), marquess of Tavistock, the eldest son of the 4th duke; he succeeded his grandfather as duke of Bedford in 1771. Regarding Charles James Fox as his political leader, he joined the Whigs in the House of Lords and became a member of the circle of the Prince of Wales, afterward George IV. Bedford was greatly interested in agriculture. He established a model farm at Woburn and made experiments in sheep breeding that were recorded by Arthur Young in the Annals of Agriculture (1795). He was a member of the original board of agriculture and was the first president of the Smithfield Club.