She spent her early years at the family home of Minto House before moving to Berlin in 1832 when her father was made Minister to Prussia.

In 1840, at the age of 24, Frances received an offer of marriage from her father's cabinet colleague, Lord John Russell, who had been widowed two years previously.

They had four children of their own: In 1847, during Lord John's first term as prime minister, the Russells were granted the use of Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park by Queen Victoria.

In his will, Amberley had named Douglas Spalding and T. J. Cobden-Sanderson as Frank and Bertrand's guardians, not wishing his children to be raised as Christians,[3] but Lord and Lady Russell successfully contested the stipulation and assumed full guardianship of their grandsons.

[4][3] The deeply pious Lady Russell, notwithstanding her undoubted disapproval of some of its content, made sure that her son's book An Analysis of Religious Belief (which took a critical view of Christianity and other religions) was published a month after his death.

According to Russell his grandmother lived austerely, disliked wine, hated tobacco, ate only the plainest food and "was always on the verge of becoming a vegetarian.