George Russell Snr (1800 - 1874)

Born 26 Sep 1800 in Burwash, Sussex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Weston) Russell — married 10 Nov 1824 in Burwash, Sussex, England

Descendants

Died 2 Apr 1874 at age 73 in Luskintyre, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Baptized 19 October 1800 - Etchingham, Sussex, England

George & Ann (Weston) Russell with children George, John, and Ann, arrived in Australia aboard "Neptune" on 27 September 1839. The family were not Assisted Immigrants; the shipping list identifying that George came "on his own account" to settle in the Hunter River district of New South Wales.

He was initially engaged by Mr George Cobb who in 1822 had become Grantee of 2,600 acres of land bordering the Hunter River near West Maitland, N.S.W., which he named 'Anambah'. The property was managed by his brother John, who died in April 1840. Livestock were auctioned in July, the property in September. (The heritage-listed Anambah House was constructed by the Cobb family's successors in ownership.)

George did not remain at Anambah long; he and the family moved 200 kms to the north-west of Maitland to join Ann's brother, James Weston, whose convict Master at that time was a well-known early Colonist, John Jones. David Russell was born in November 1840 on the Jones property 'Turee', near Coolah. James Weston was granted his Ticket of Leave in 1836 and, in 1842 when the Cassilis Bench had approved his Certificate of Freedom (granted in 1843), he took up 100 acres of land at Croppy Creek, near Cassilis, and it is there Emma Russell was born in 1843.

[In 1846 Weston sold the Croppy Creek holding and took up the then-described 'Coolabarabyan' run on the Castlereagh River. He diversified into running a general store and a tavern on his land to cater for travellers on the nearby main stock route, and later established a Post Office on the property. He has been described as the "founding father" of the town of Coonabarabran.]

Family anecdote has it that George was farming at Coonabarabran and it is possible they may have lived on the Weston run, but it can only have been for a very short time as by November 1847 the Crown Lands Commissioner recorded only James & Lucy and family on that property.

In August 1848, David and Emma were baptised again, at the Church of England in Singleton; originally baptised in 1845 at the Anglican Church in Mudgee. The family is recorded as having lived at Black Creek/Branxton, perhaps on "The Wilderness" (owned by the Holmes family) near Allandale, before settling at the Luskintyre farm in late 1851 where George and Ann spent the rest of their lives.

George died in 1874 and bequeathed his Estate to Ann for the term of her life and then the residual to his youngest son, David, who farmed at Luskintyre until 1907. His death on 22 August 1912 is recorded at the residence of his daughters, the Misses Russell (Susan and Minnie), "Sunnyside", Luskintyre.

Ann died on 2 December 1881, and both are buried in the Trinity Churchyard, Lochinvar.

Research Notes

The extensive "Windermere" and "Luskintyre" Estates were owned by T. W. M. Winder, Esq. Two years before his death in 1853 he had begun advertising them for sale — Windermere in large acreages, Luskintyre divided into the homestead and 1230 acres, and "15 CULTIVATION ALLOTMENTS, suitable for small farms, varying in size from 15 to 41 acres, well and permanently watered by the river Hunter, and sheltered from the westerly winds". In the 'Maitland Mercury' of 21 June 1851, the auctioneer announced having sold "thirteen small farms of the Luskintyre estate, varying from 15 to 40 acres in size, at prices ranging from £2 to £3 per acre".

George purchased a 40-acre block where he established a commercial orchard, a market garden for vegetables, ran some livestock, and grew wheat for a time. It is understood that the "Sunnyside" land was just to the west of the present Luskintyre Road bridge (on the Luskintyre side), adjacent to a loop of the river.

Sources

• Death: NSW Registry 5788/1874
• "Russells from Burwash", Jean (Russell) McIntosh, 1988
• Shipping List: 'Neptune', 1839 - www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/
• Cobb, 'Anambah' Grant: http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-f381
• Weston records: srwww.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/
• 'Turee' and John Jones: www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=1390009
• Weston and Coonabarabran: http://higround.com.au/docs/THCoona.pdf