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In 1938, thanks to years of work by a remarkable female agent, MI5 ensured a package of British defence plans stayed secret.
Series
Ampthill Papers
Catalogue reference: FO 918
What's it about?
FO 918
This series contains private and semi-official papers of Odo Russell, accumulated throughout his diplomatic career. They relate principally to his missions to Rome, 1858 to 1870, and Berlin, 1871 to 1884.In addition to the majority of the...
Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
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FO 918
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Title (The name of the record)
- Ampthill Papers
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Date (When the record was created)
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1851-1884
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Description (What the record is about)
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This series contains private and semi-official papers of Odo Russell, accumulated throughout his diplomatic career. They relate principally to his missions to Rome, 1858 to 1870, and Berlin, 1871 to 1884.
In addition to the majority of the collection, there are also two volumes of typescript of the letters of Odo Russell to his brother Arthur and to his mother. In these letters Lady William (2 Oct. 1793-10 Aug. 1874) is referred to or addressed as "MM", Hastings (16 Oct. 1819-14 Jan. 1891) as "Baba" and Arthur (13 June 1825-4 April. 1892) as "Atty".
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Separated material (A cross-reference between records that are related by provenance but now kept separately)
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The originals of Odo Russell's letters to his mother and brother Arthur have been destroyed.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
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Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
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English
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Creator(s) (The creator of the record)
- Russell, Odo William Leopold, 1829-1884
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Physical description (The amount and form of the record)
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85 bundle(s)
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Immediate source of acquisition (When and where the record was acquired from)
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John Hugo Russell3rd Baron Ampthill, 1896-1973
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Subjects (Categories and themes found in our collection (our subject list is under development, and some records may have no subjects or fewer than expected))
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- Topics
- Europe and Russia
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Custodial history (Describes where and how the record has been held from creation to transfer to The National Archives)
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The tin box containing the Ampthill Papers was discovered at Woburn Abbey in the autumn of 1968.
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Administrative / biographical background (Historical or biographical information about the creator of the record and the context of its creation)
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Odo William Leopold Russell was born on 20 February 1829, son of Lord William Russell who was an elder brother of Lord John Russell. He became attaché to the embassy in Vienna at the age of twenty. He served in the Foreign Office under Palmerston and Granville (1850-52), and was later posted to Paris (1853), Constantinople (1854), Washington (1857) and Rome (Nov. 1858 to July 1870). He was then transferred to the Foreign Office, to be sent in November 1870 on a special mission to Bismarck at Versailles. On 16 October 1871 he was appointed ambassador in Berlin.
From 25 June 1872, when his brother, Hastings, became Duke of Bedford, he was known as Lord Odo Russell. On 11 March 1881 he was created Baron Ampthill. He died in Berlin on 25 August 1884.
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Publication note(s) (A note of publications related to the record)
- A selection of Russell's despatches from Rome are in The Roman Question, ed by Noel Blakiston (Chapman & Hal, 1962) For further reading on Russell's ambassadorship to Berlin see Winifred Taffs, Ambassador to Bismarck, Lord Odo Russell, First Baron Ampthill (Fred. Muller, 1938) and Letters from the Berlin Embassy 1871-4, 1880-5, ed Paul Knaplund, Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1942, II, (Washington, 1944).
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C8217/
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
This record is held at The National Archives, Kew
689,247 records
Within the department: FO
Records created or inherited by the Foreign Office
You are currently looking at the series: FO 918
Ampthill Papers
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