| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Chichester | [1417] |
| Midhurst | [1419] |
| Reigate | 1432 |
| East Grinstead | 1433 |
Attestor, parlty. elections, Suss. 1414 (Nov.), 1416 (Mar.).
Bailiff, Chichester Mich. 1417–18.
Bailiff of the rape of Arundel, Suss. for John, Lord Arundel and Mautravers, by Mich. 1419.1 CP40/635, rots. 110, 249.
More may be added to the earlier biography.2 The Commons 1386-1421, iv. 259.
During the Michaelmas term of 1419, when he was representing the Sussex borough of Midhurst in Parliament, Russell regularly appeared in the court of common pleas as an attorney on behalf of clients from the western part of the county. Most notable among those for whom he acted was Lord Arundel and Mautravers, de jure earl of Arundel, who by this date had appointed him bailiff of the liberty of the rape of Arundel. He took the opportunity of his sojourn at Westminster to bring several suits for debt on his own account, each for the sum of £2 owed to him by local landowners such as the priors of Tortington and Pynham. Perhaps these sums represented legal fees. On one occasion, when the defendants defaulted Russell was sent a precept from the sheriff of Sussex to summon them to court in his capacity as bailiff of the rape.3 CP40/635, rots. 29, 48d, 248d, 249, 416.
Besides his interests in west Sussex, Russell also held land further east at Bishopstone near Lewes, and in 1427 he sued certain servants of the Lewknor family for the theft of his livestock there.4 CP40/667, rot. 121. While attending his last Parliament, in 1433, Russell was engaged as an attorney in the Exchequer for William Morfote*, the notorious privateer from Winchelsea.5 E159/209, brevia Trin. rot. 4.