Parliamentary activity
Information about members' parliamentary service including their positions held and biography.
Positions
| Position | Start | End | Period | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | Tue 03 September 1861 | Sun 04 July 1880 | 18 years 10 months 2 days | Life Appointment under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 24 June 1861 |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Council | Fri 20 August 1858 | Mon 13 May 1861 | 2 years 8 months 24 days | First (Quinquennial) Appointments under the Constitution Act. Date of Writ of Summons 17 August 1858. |
| Member of the NSW Legislative Assembly | Fri 28 March 1856 | Tue 05 August 1856 | 4 months 9 days | |
| Member for Northumberland Boroughs | Fri 28 March 1856 | Tue 05 August 1856 | 4 months 9 days | Election voided on the Report of the Elections and Qualifications Committee, on a petition lodged against his election. |
Biography
Personal information
Son of Bourn Russell, commander of merchant ship, and Hannah Russell. Married Jane Macreth in 1815 in England and had issue, 2 daughters and 5 sons. Congregationalist.
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Retired factory owner of independent means. Educated at Free Grammar School in Rye and then at Edmonton and then under Reverend William Fuller in Sussex. Apprenticed to sea in 1810; by 21 was a ships commander. Soon after became captain and then part owner of a vessel trading chiefly in China and South Seas from 1815 until 1824. Went into whaling. Brought wife and children to New South Wales in 1834; settled at Maitland in 1844 and lost everything in the depression. Operated boiling down works at Stoney Creek in 1846; venture prospered and he sold out having acquired independent means. Father of New South Wales government astronomer.
Additional information
Personal papers in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales:
Bourn Russell - journal, 1830 - 1832, with later annotations 1839 - 1846, along
with incidental papers, 1820 - 1829 (MLMSS 3532); photographs in the PICMAN
Database.
Warwick Hirst, "Bourn to be Wild", The Bulletin, 11 July 1995, pp. 34 - 35.