Ordained in 1877 after a period at Ripon College Cuddesdon,[3] following two London curacies he was Incumbent at several parishes [4] before senior posts as Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral, Dean of Norwich[5] and finally Bishop of Birmingham.
[8] At that time, since bishoprics were Crown appointments, the Prime Minister was the key figure in the process and, in 1907, Campbell-Bannerman nominated Wakefield for Bishop of Chichester.
[9] The King, Edward VII, asked Campbell-Bannerman to reconsider the appointment and consult the Archbishop of Canterbury who described Wakefield as 'not a very refined or scholarly or cultured man'.
[13] Russell Wakefield was active in recruitment to the forces, notable at a large Town Hall gathering in 1914, and in 1918 was still pressing clergy to volunteer as chaplains.
[15] Wakefield's Roman Catholic counterpart at Birmingham at the time was Edward Ilsley, under whose metropolitan jurisdiction Clifton Diocese fell.