Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Lord John Russell n.

[rhy. sl.; ult. British politician Lord John Russell (1792–1878)]

a bustle, a frame used to make a woman’s skirt stand out from the hips.

[UK]Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc.
[UK]Hotten Sl. Dict.
[UK] ‘Thieves’ Sl.’ Gent.’s Mag. CCLXXXI Oct. 348: ‘Lord John Russell’ was at one time a common equivalent for ‘bustle’.
[UK]J. Franklyn Cockney 295: Ladies no longer wear a bustle – with it has gone Lord John Russell.