Sir George Russell, 4th Baronet

Sir George Russell, 4th Baronet (23 August 1828 – 7 March 1898)[1] was a British barrister, judge, and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1898.

"Wokingham"
Russell as caricatured by "Spy" (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, March 1889

Russell was the third son of Sir Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet and his wife Marie Clotilde Mottet de la Fontaine. He was educated at Eton and Exeter College, Oxford. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1853 and went to the Oxford Circuit. In 1862 he became recorder of Wokingham.

He was a County Court Judge of County Circuit No. 19 from 1866 to 1874, and of Circuit No. 49 from 1874 to February 1884.[2] He succeeded his brother Charles as 4th baronet in 1883.[3]

In the 1885 general election, Russell was elected the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Wokingham.[4] He served until his death at the age of 69 in 1898.[1]

Russell was elected Chairman of the South Eastern Railway (SER) on 24 January 1895, and served in that post until his death on 7 March 1898, being replaced by Cosmo Bonsor. During Russell's short term as chairman, the SER began to work more closely with its rivals.[5] The Railway Times remarked

upon his succession to the chair he initiated a policy wholly new to that company, the salient features of which were peace with its neighbours and an energetic development of its own resources.
— quoted in Dendy Marshall & Kidner 1963, p. 314

Family

Russell married Constance Charlotte Lennox, daughter of Lord Arthur Lennox in 1871. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son George. They lived at Swallowfield Park in Berkshire. Their children were:

Marie Clothilde Russell (died 1953), married Ernest, second son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh
Sir George Arthur Charles Russell, 5th Bt. (1868–1944)
Sir Arthur Edward Ian Montagu Russell, 6th Bt. (1878–1964)

References

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)
Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886
Leigh Rayment's list of baronets – Baronetcies beginning with "R" (part 2)
Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 223. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
Dendy Marshall, C.F.; Kidner, Roger W. (1963) [1937]. History of the Southern Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 314. ISBN 0-7110-0059-X.

Burkes Peerage (1939 edition)

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir George Russell

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[rayment-1] Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 5)

[2] Debretts Guide to the House of Commons 1886

[3] Leigh Rayment's list of baronets – Baronetcies beginning with "R" (part 2)

[craig1885-1918-4] Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 223. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.

[5] Dendy Marshall, C.F.; Kidner, Roger W. (1963) [1937]. History of the Southern Railway (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. p. 314. ISBN 0-7110-0059-X.