Author: Russell, George
Biography:
RUSSELL, George (1772-1819: ancestry.com)
This nonconformist poet, the son of gentleman George Russell and Ann Perkins, was baptized at St Andrew Undershaft, London, 27 Aug. 1772, one month prior to his parents’ marriage in the same church. He had four brothers, John William (b 1773), Richard (b 1781), Frederick Lukin (b 1783), and William (1784). Nothing is known about his early life or education. The date of his marriage, the name of his wife, and that of his child who died aged nine months are unknown. By occupation, he was an auctioneer, appraiser, estate agent, and agent to the Phoenix Fire Office. He was resident and had offices in Cross Street, Newington, Surrey, and in Garraway’s, Change Alley, Cornhill. Notable evangelicals, Rowland Hill, Thomas Raffles (qq.v.), and Elizabeth Fry, subscribed to his Letters, Essays, and Poems on Religious Subjects (1810) and to his Sunday School and other Anecdotes (1819). He died, aged 47, on 28 May 1819 and was buried on 2 June at the Baptist Maze Pond Chapel in Southwark. One of his calling cards is preserved at the British Museum. (ancestry.com 24 Oct. 2024; British Museum: Heal, 5.21; GM 89 [1819], 587; Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser, 7 June 1819; GM 89 [1819], 587) JC