John Robert Russell, the 13th Duke of Bedford, might have simply passed through a comfortable life in the British peerage if not for the fact that his ancient family was nearly bankrupt following the deaths of his father and grandfather. In order to keep his estate at Woburn Abbey in family hands, and to the horror of his fellow aristocrats, Russell turned the place into a tourist attraction, complete with a fun fair and safari park. The gamble worked and Russell was philosophical about it: "I do not relish the scorn of the peerage, but it is better to be looked down on than overlooked."
Passage: Duke of Bedford, 85
John Robert Russell, the 13th Duke of Bedford, might have simply passed through a comfortable life in the British peerage if not for the fact that his ancient family was nearly bankrupt following the deaths of his father and grandfather. In order to keep his estate at Woburn Abbey in family hands, and to the horror of his fellow aristocrats, Russell turned the place into a tourist attraction, complete with a fun fair and safari park. The gamble worked and Russell was philosophical about it: "I do not relish the scorn of the peerage, but it is better to be looked down on than overlooked."
