Rachel Wriothesley, Lady Russell

Rachel Wriothesley, Lady Russell (1636-1723) endured the beheading of her husband, Lord Russell, on 12 July 1683 for his part in the Rye House Plot to assassinate Charles II and his brother, the future James II, over concerns of a Catholic succession. The Letters of Lady Rachel Russell, published by Edward and Charles Dilly in London, appeared in 1773.  Either Mary Scott or Mary Steele purchased a copy of the Letters, for on the address page of a letter from Jane Attwater to Mary Steele, 13 November 1775, Attwater wrote, ‘beg leave to keep Lady Russels Letters a little longer’ (see volume 3, letter 60). See Ballard, Memoirs, 194-201.