Philip Russell (1919 - 2009)

Born 3 Sep 1919 in South Yarra, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Alethea (Fairbairn) Russell — married 3 Sep 1946 in Christ Church, Skipton, Victoria, Australia

Died Jun 2009 at age 89 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Biography

PHILIP RUSSELL (Russell-16921)

PARENTS. Alex Russell & Jess Lucy (Fairbairn) Russell

BIRTH. 3 Sep 1919, 923 Punt Hill, South Yarra, Victoria, Australia

BIRTH NOTICE. RUSSELL.—On the 3rd September, at 923 Punt Hill, South Yarra, to Major and Mrs. Alex. Russell—a son.

(Nov 1939). DANCE PARTY. FOR SON AND DAUGHTER. A model gown of white tulle was worn by Miss. Virginia Russell, daughter of Major and Mrs. Alex. Russell, Mawallok, Beaufort, at the dance given by her parents last evening at 9 Darling-street. Miss Russell and her brother, Mr. Philip Russell, were the guests of honor, and guests were all young people. Miss Russell, who was celebrating her nineteenth birthday, was a charming, figure as she welcomed the guests. Her frock had a bouffant skirt, a wide band of fine chantllly lace scalloped round the stiffened hem, and the same lace forming a stiffened frill round the front of the neckline. The bodice was of tulle, corded diagonally, with twin peaks at the low waistline, and wide straps of lace at the back. She tucked a gardenia In her dark hair, to match the flower worn on one side of the neckline. Mrs. Russell's gown was of bitter-sweet French romaine, gathered Into a knot at the front of the bodice, with the knot repeated at the low waist, causing the skirt to fall In soft folds In the front. She repeated the color of her gown In the orchids pinned to one shoulder.

MARRIAGE. 3 Sep 1946, Christ Church, Skipton, Victoria, Australia

MARRIAGE. 3 Sep 1946, Alethea Fairbairn, daughter of Charles Osborne Fairbairn & Irene Florence (Ridley) Fairbairn

WEDDING REPORT. Bride And 'Groom From Pioneer Families. By Our Special Reporter. All the loveliness of springtime—warm sunshine, blossom, and flowers in profusion, and a cloudless sky—attended the marriage yesterday of Miss Alethea Fairbairn and Mr Philip Russell at Christ Church, Skipton. . . . By his choice of a bride from the Fairbairn family, Mr Philip Russell has followed the example of his father, who also married a member of this family, in uniting two of the earliest pioneering families in the state. The bride is the second daughter of Group-Captain and Mrs Osborne Fairbairn, Banongill, Skipton, and the bridegroom is the only son of Colonel and Mrs Alex Russell, Mawallok, Beaufort. . . . The five bridesmaids were Misses Patience Fairbairn, Angela Fairbairn, Robina Russell, Franks Fairbairn, and Patricia MacKinnon. . . . The best man was Mr Hunter Landale, and Messrs Griff Weatherly, Bill Manifold, and Peter Guthrie were groomsmen. Among the guests who came from Melbourne and from many parts of the Western district were Mrs Alan Currie, Miss Mary Russell, Mrs Robert Landale, Mr and Mrs John Guest, Mr and Mrs Clive Fairbairn, Mr and Mrs David Fairbairn, Mr and Mrs Charles Armytage, Mr and Mrs Charles Russell (Queensland), Colonel and Mrs H. P. Mackenzie, Mr and Mrs W. Weatherly, Miss Ella Guthrie, Miss N. Stewart. Regret was expressed at the absence of Mrs F. W. Fairbairn, the bridegroom's grandmother, who was not well enough to attend.

PHOTOGRAPH. RUSSELL—FAIRBAIRN BRIDAL PARTY LEAVING CHRIST CHURCH, SKIPTON, IN SPRING SUNSHINE.

Children:

(1) Sandy Russell

(2) Ian Russell

(3) Susie Russell

(4) Caroline Russell

DEATH. Jun 2009, Wallington, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia

OBITUARY. PHILIP Russell, who was heir to an important pastoral property, Mawallok, near Beaufort, and a tradition of community service, has died in a hospice at Wallington, near Geelong. He was 89.

He made a lively contribution to both the property and community service, as well as the fine arts, as both patron and practitioner, particularly painting and sketching.

His great-grandfathers included two early emigrants from Scotland who were prominent in the establishment of sheep-breeding in Victoria: Alexander Russell, at Mawallok from 1846, and George Fairbairn, the first Australian pastoralist to own a million sheep. Through his mother, Jess Fairbairn, Russell was related to a dynasty outstanding for energy and influence in spheres that included the land, sport, and politics four generations of Fairbairns having served in Australian parliaments.

Russell was the only son, with younger sisters Virginia and Robina, of Alex, who was a grazier, soldier in both world wars who won the Military Cross, and became chief commissioner of the Australian Red Cross Society. He was also personal private secretary to the prime minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce, and as an amateur golfer won the Australian Open championship in 1924. He also designed golf-courses in Australia and New Zealand.

Growing up in Melbourne and, from 1932, at Mawallok, Russell followed his father and many Fairbairns as a boarder from 1930 to 1938 at Geelong Grammar School, where he was inspired by two distinguished art teachers, the painter John Derrick and the poet Mary Finnin. He won a prize for art each year and became a house prefect and a cadet sergeant. He hoped also to follow his father to Cambridge, but applied instead to join the army the day after the outbreak of World War II (his 20th birthday). He enlisted in October 1939 as a gunner, and over the next six years served in 13 countries with artillery regiments. Having refused a commission in 1940, he accepted one in 1942.

In January 1941, during his regiment's and the Australian army's first action, on the Egyptian-Libyan border, he was captured by Italians but rescued 43 hours later by Australian infantry who had taken Bardia. After service in Greece, including Crete, he trained in Lebanon in long-range ski-fighting tactics, but returned with his regiment to Melbourne in 1942. From 1943 to 1945 he served as a forward observation officer in New Guinea, often behind the Japanese lines, with little respite and several predictably narrow escapes. He was twice recommended for a Military Cross.

On his discharge, late in 1945, he took over the running of Mawallok, where he remained in charge until he retired in 1979. Earlier, on his 27th birthday in 1946, he had married his second-cousin Alethea Fairbairn, and over the next 10 years two sons and two daughters were born.

In 1996, he published a volume of 359 memoirs that, with help from Alethea, he had compiled, Old Geelong Grammarians at War. He was president of the Old Geelong Grammarians' association from 1970-72.

From Mawallok's depressed wartime state, he more than trebled its yield and became a sought-after lecturer, and the author of articles on such subjects as lambing techniques and agricultural education.

Death of Spouse: 11 Sep 2013, Victoria, Australia

Sources

• Birth Notice: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Tue 9 Sep 1919, Page 1: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4692786

• (Nov 1939). DANCE PARTY. FOR SON AND DAUGHTER: The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954) Sat 4 Nov 1939, Page 23: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/205585822

• Wedding Report: The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Wed 4 Sep 1946, Page 14: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22326497

• Obituary: Squire served with steel, style, by Michael Collins Persse, The Sydney Morning Herald, JUNE 18 2009: http://www.smh.com.au/national/squire-served-with-steel-style-20090617-chwd.html