Ancestorium Family Tree Collaboration

James (Sir) Russell, Colonel, Lt.-Governor

Male 1653 - 1687  (34 years)


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  • Name James (Sir) Russell 
    Suffix Colonel, Lt.-Governor 
    Born 1653  Nevis Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 1687  Saint Kitts and Nevis Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I076871  Ancestorium
    Last Modified 9 Jan 2022 

    Father Randal (or Randolph) Russell, Lt. Colonel,   d. 1678, his death announced 29 June 1678 Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Mother Frances Keynell,   b. c 1622, Dorset, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. UNKNOWN 
    Married his 1st wife Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F42931  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Penelope Tyrrell,   d. 3 Dec 1707 
    Married 13 Jan 1675 
    Children 
     1. Elizabeth Russell,   d. UNKNOWN
    +2. Frances Russell,   d. UNKNOWN
    +3. Penelope Russell,   b. Between Sep 1676 and 1682, Nevis Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Dec 1707  (Age ~ 31 years)
    +4. Frances Russell,   d. UNKNOWN
    Family ID F42930  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Sir James Russell, Sir, Col.
      https://www.geni.com/people/Sir-James-Russell-Acting-Gov-of-Nevis/6000000024866042393
      Birthdate: 1653
      Birthplace: Nevis
      Death: 1687 (33-34)
      Saint Kitts and Nevis
      Immediate Family:
      Son of Col. Randolph Russell, Dep.-Gov. of Nevis and Frances Russell
      Husband of Lady Penelope Russell
      Father of Penelope Russell; Frances Stapleton and Elizabeth Russell
      Brother of Randall Russell; Edmond Russell; Valentine Russell, Col.; Anne Stapleton and Frances Jory
      Half brother of Randall Russell; Edmond Russell; Valentine Russell, Col.; Col. Sir Richard James Russell and Anne Russell

      Occupation: Knight. Acting governor of Nevis., nglish Royal Governor of the island of Nevis Colonel in the Guards Knighted by King Charles II at Whitehall in 1672
      Managed by: David Howerton
      Last Updated: October 6, 2021
      +++++++++++++

      See "The Russell Family" at http://descentfromadam.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/the-russell-family/
      Colonel Sir James Russell, Knt. and Penelope Tyrrell had the following children:
      1.Elizabeth Russell; living 1687
      2.Frances Russell, Married 1st: her first cousin Sir William Stapleton, 2nd Bt. of Nevis; Married 2nd: Walter Hamilton, Captain-General of Leeward Islands.
      3.Penelope Russell (my ancestor), married Martin Madan, Esq., of Nevis
      4.Frances Russell, mar. Joseph Jory of Nevis, who was a Lieut. 1680, Captain 1683, Colonel 1719; Agent at London 1702. He died at Bethnal Green (? 1725). His son Randolph matriculated from St. John’s College, Oxford, 3 Nov. 1699, at. 16. Adm’on at Oxford 26 Nov. 1702.
      +++++++++++++

      More Plantations: The Russell Family Revisited
      JANUARY 6, 2022 ~ JUSTIN KIRBY
      https://descentfromadam.wordpress.com/2022/01/06/more-plantations-the-russell-family-revisited/
      Having looked recently at my plantation and slave owning Madan and Nisnet ancestors, I need to revisit my Russell ones (see earlier posts here). This is mostly going to be more genealogical because trying to fathom the complexities of how the estates of these and other related families got passed on from generation along with other legacies needs way more time to unravel than I can commit. And not least because that’s something that still appears to be ongoing at the Centre for the Study of legacies of British slave ownership (who have even cited this blog) https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/ . I will try and tackle some of the ownership and passing on, but this post is also an attempt to check previous findings having found more about these families, including their plantation and slave owning.

      The Pedigree above is from The history of the island of Antigua. https://archive.org/details/historyofislando03oliv/page/60/mode/2up , one of the Leeward Caribbees in the West Indies, from the first settlement in 1635 to the present time (1894) by Oliver, Vere Langford. I have no idea of the pedigree’s accuracy but it’s a starting place, even if the unnamed Russell at the top of the pedigree above is still the furthest back I can go. I have seen a couple of theories. One is that the Russell family are related to the Duke of Bedford Russells who owned planations in the West Indies. The other is that they hailed from Ireland. Neither has been established.

      The first generation includes the following children of the unnamed Russell ancestor at the top of the pedigree (I have included links to their records on Ancestorium.com and order below is simply to reflect their apearnce from left to right pedigree above rather than a ranking of their age):

      Lieut.Colonel Randal (or Randolph) Russell, settled in 1637 at St. Kitts under Sir Thomas Warner; Deputy-Governor of Nevis 1668; his death announced 29 June 1678. Married 1st: Frances, 2nd dau. of Edmund Kaynell (Keynell) of Haslebury, CO. Dorset (sic Le Neve) he was living 1677.. had issue; Married 2nd Wife: Margaret (poss. Carpenter)
      Sir James Russell, Knt., Governor of Nevis 1632—71 ; knighted 10 May 1672; died 15 Nov. 1674, bur. and M.I. at St. James’s, Bristol; Married: Margaret Hunt, sister of Robert Hunt ; bur. Sep. 1677 at St. Bristol, intestate.
      Anne Russell: 1st husband: Sir Thomas Warner, Knt., Governor of St. Kitts and Lieut. General of the Caribbean Isles; died 10 March 1648. M.I. at the Old Road, St. Kitts2nd Husband: Sir George March, Knt., of Nevis, later of Limehouse.
      Lt.Col. Randal (or Randolph) Russell is my ancestor, but I think there maybe some confusion between the Sir James Russell, Knt. above and his nephew who was called James. Firstly, I couldn’t tally the dates it shows with James being Governor of Nevis above (1632—71) with the List of colonial governors and administrators of Nevis on the wiki. They do include a James Russell, but he doesn’t appear to have been knighted and dates they show are from 1657–1671. I also found this reference in Searching for the 17th Century on Nevis: The Survey and Excavation of Two Early Plantation Sites (2021) Robert Philpott, Roger Leech, Elaine L. Morris

      James Russell was knighted on 10 May 1672 and served as Governor of Nevis from 1685-1687.
      ...and much more...
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      Some more notes on Sir James Russell, Knt.
      JANUARY 6, 2022 ~ JUSTIN KIRBY
      https://descentfromadam.wordpress.com/2022/01/06/some-more-notes-on-sir-james-russell-knt/
      In my recent post on the Russell Family, I explain 3 of 4 siblings identified so far were early settlers of St. Kitts and Nevis. I can’t find anything about their ancestry including where they hailed from, but am pretty clear that ancestor Lt. Col. Randal (or Randolph) Russell, arrived in about 1637 based on a deposition he made that is cited in The history of the island of Antigua, one of the Leeward Caribbees in the West Indies, from the first settlement in 1635 to the present time (1894) by Oliver, Vere Langford. And some idea of the later legacies relating to the plantations and slaves he and his brother James owned, as well as how that wealth was consolidated through marriages with related and other famlies in subsequent generations (see posts on Madan and Nisbet families). What has been less clear is how and when his broher James and sister Anne came to be there. In her case, the how is linked to her appearing to be the 3rd wife of Sir Thomas Warner who is noted for settling on Saint Kitts and establishing it in 1624 as the first English colony in the Caribbean (see wiki entry). What I don’t know is when she married Sir Thomas and if that was before or after her 2 brothers had settled there. I’ve found a few more clues about her brother James though in Colonising Expeditions to the West Indies and Guiana, 1623-1667 (2017) by V.T. Harlow

      It contains journals and narratives from early settlers in St. Kitts and Nevis. I contains a few refetences to James Russell who was possibly knighted in 1672:
      ....and much more...
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      The Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery
      https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146667257
      Sir James Russell (d. 1687)
      Profile & Legacies Summary
      No Dates

      Biography
      Owner of estates in Nevis and Antigua.

      Eldest son of Lieut. Col. Randal Russell and his wife Frances nee Keynell. Married Penelope Tyrell in Camberwell, near London, 13/01/1675. Heir to his uncle Sir James Russell, Governor of Nevis 1632-1671. Bequeathed his estates in Nevis and Antigua to his wife and daughters. His second daughter, Frances, married her first cousin Sir William Stapleton, 2nd Bart. His youngest daughter Penelope married Martin Madan.

      Sources
      Vere Langford Oliver, History of the Island of Antigua (London, Mitchell and Hughes, 1894) vol. 3 pp. 60-65; will of James Russell, late of Nevis, now living in Bristol, PROB 11/346/426; will of Sir James Russell of Nevis, PROB 11/392/55.
      We are grateful to Justin Kirby for his assistance with compiling this entry.
      ...and more...