Terry Foreman on 2 Jun 2012  •  Link

John Russell (died 1687) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1641 to 1644. He fought in the Royalist army in the English Civil War.

Russell was the third son of Francis Russell, fourth Earl of Bedford, known as the "wise earl", and his wife Catherine Brydges, daughter of Giles Brydges, 3rd Baron Chandos. He was a wealthy man with estates at Shingay, Cambridgeshire.

In 1641, Russell was elected Member of Parliament for Tavistock in the Long Parliament after his brother William Lord Russell inherited the peerage. Russell served in the King's army and was a member of the Sealed Knot. The family had divided loyalties in the Civil War. His father had been a champion of the parliamentary cause and his brother changed sides twice. He had many aristocratic equally vacillating connections among his brothers-in-law: the Parliamentarians, Lord Brooke and Lord Grey of Wark, the turncoat Earl of Carlisle and the Royalists Lord Bristol and Lord Newport of High Ercall. Russell commanded Prince Rupert's blue coated regiment of foot, and was disabled from sitting in parliament in 1644. He was prominent at the storming of Leicester in May 1645, was wounded at Naseby and was in the Oxford garrison before its surrender.

After the Restoration Russell was a colonel commanding John Russell's Regiment of Guards which became incorporated into the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards, or later the Grenadier Guards. He enjoyed dress, dance, and music although his taste belonged to the fashion of an earlier generation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John…

Pepys mentions his presence at a court ball. According to Grammont he was 'one of the most desperate dancers in all England for country dances...He had a printed list of three or four hundred varieties, which he danced with the open book before him...His way of dancing resembled the fashion of his clothes; both were twenty years out of date.'

L&M Companion

San Diego Sarah on 24 May 2024  •  Link

By the end of March 1656, Charles II, who was living in Bruges in the Spanish Netherlands, negotiated a treaty with Spain. The King of Spain agreed to assist an invasion of England with 6,000 foot and sufficient ships to transport them to England, whenever the occasion for an invasion presented itself. Charles was required to raise troops, nominally for the service of Spain, to be equipped and paid by the Spaniards.
The treaty was signed on 21 July, 1656, and Charles II raised 3 regiments: one of English, one of Irish and one of Scots. The English regiment was placed under the command of Gen. Henry Wilmot, 1st Earl of Rochester.
Charles II named the English regiment “His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Guards” and gave its command to Thomas, Lord Wentworth after Rochester’s death. The regiment was also known as the “Lord Wentworth's Regiment”.
“Lord Wentworth's Regiment”was then involved in the last years of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–59).
By the end of April 1657, the Guards counting 400 men, and was quartered at Leuze-en-Hainaut near Tournai. They moved to the siege of Ardres and the attempted relief of Mardyck.
In the Spring of 1658, they were quartered in Dixmude.
On 14 June, 1658, “His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Guards” took part in the Battle of the Dunes, after which they were quartered in Nivelles.

In 1660, when Charles II returned to England, “His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Guards” was placed on English establishment although it was left in the Spanish Netherlands. They were successively moved from Nivelles to Namur and then to Dunkirk.

Also in 1660, Charles II raised a second regiment of Foot Guards (12 companies of 100 men each) in England which was designated as the "King's Regiment of Guards" and placed under the command of Col. John Russell.

In 1661, Col. John Russell’s Guards took part in the reduction of Venner's insurrection in London. It was then distributed among several garrisons where it replaced disbanded companies from the former Commonwealth.

The same year, “Lord Wentworth's Regiment” of “His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Guards”, in Dunkirk, was brought back to full strength (12 companies of 100 men each).

In 1662, when Dunkirk was sold to France, “Lord Wentworth's Regiment” of was recalled to England where it was distributed in several garrisons: Windsor, Landguard Fort, Pendennis Castle, Guernsey, Dover, Plymouth, Berwick and Hull. The three companies from “Lord Wentworth's Regiment” initially sent to Guernsey were soon sent to Portsmouth.

San Diego Sarah on 24 May 2024  •  Link

CONCLUSION:

In November 1664, a detachment of “Lord Wentworth's Regiment” AKA “His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Guards” embarked on board the “Royal Catherine” and “Triumph” at Woolwich. These ships returned to Portsmouth for the winter.

In January 1665, in preparation for the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665 – 1667), 600 men of “His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Guards” were apportioned for service at sea.

After the death of Thomas, Lord Wentworth on 28 February, 1665 “His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Guards” and Col. John Russell’s "King's Regiment of Guards" were amalgamated into a single regiment counting 2 battalions under the command of Col. Russell on 16 March, and later became known as "The First Regiment of Foot Guards".

On 13 June, 1665, part of "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" took part in the naval Battle of Lowestoft.

In July, 1665, when plague broke out in London, 6 companies of the "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" escorted Charles II to Salisbury. In September 1665, they escorted Charles II to Oxford.

In 1666, 10 companies of "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" were assembled at Hampton Court.

By August 1668, "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" counted 12 companies of 80 men each; and 12 companies of 60 men each.

In 1670 and in 1671, detachments of "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" were sent on board men-of-war anticipating the third Anglo-Dutch War.

In 1672, when the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672 – 1674) finally broke out, detachments of "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" served aboard the fleet, taking part, on June 7, in the naval Battle of Solebay.

In August 1672, the 24 companies of "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" was deployed as follows:
 at Rochester (6 coys)
 at Carlisle (1 coy)
 at Dover Castle (1 coy)
 at York (2 coys)
 aboard the fleet (5 coys)
 in Westminster (9 coys)

In 1673, several detachments of "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" once more served aboard the fleet, taking part in the naval combats near Schooneveld on June 7 and 14.

On 28 July, part of "The First Regiment of Foot Guards" embarked for the planned landing on the coast of the Dutch Republic.

In 1677, grenadiers were introduced in "The First Regiment of Foot Guards".

And so we know them today -- the Grenadier Guards.

Information taken from
https://www.kronoskaf.com/syw/ind…
and https://www.grengds.com/history
THE NAMES OF THE REGIMENTS ARE IN QUOTES AS I’M NOT SURE WHEN THE NAME CHANGES OCCURRED.