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This name appears to be
derived from "rous" meaning
"red". This was commonly found among
the Normans or French in the personal name Rufus.
Walter Russel witnessed a charter in favour of
the Abbey of Paisley between 1164 and 1177. John,
son of Robert Russel of Duncanlaw, is mentioned
in a charter of around 1180. Robert Russel
witnessed a deed relating to the lands of
Threipland in 1259, and Robert Russel appears on
the Ragman Roll, doing forced homage to Edward I
of England in 1296.
Anderson relates that the name
of Russel came to Aberdeenshire in one Rozel, an
English baron who fought at the siege of Berwick
and in the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333. He
subsequently settled in Scotland, obtaining the
estate of Aden; his family was to be styled
"Russel of that Ilk". Jerome Russell, a
Greyfriars priest, was burned with John Kennedy
for heresy in Glasgow in 1539.
In 1680 Patrick Russel,
married to a sister of Archbishop Sharp,
purchased the lands of Moncoffer in Banffshire.
The Russels of Ashiesteel in Selkirkshire were a
prominent local family, particularly
distinguished in military service. Colonel
William Russel of Ashiesteel was adjutant general
of the army of Madras, and served under General
Lord Clive throughout all his campaigns between
1756 and 1767. His son, Major General Sir James
Russel, also served in India and commanded a
brigade of cavalry at the Battle of Mahedpoor in
1830. Alexander Russel was an eminent doctor and
naturalist in the mid eighteenth century, and
published a Natural History of Aleppo in 1756.
In England, the descendants of
Rufus rose to become the powerful Dukes of
Bedford. Lord John Russell, third son of the
sixth Duke, was sent by his father to Edinburgh
University, where he greatly admired the
independent and democratic philosophy of the
Scots. He entered politics and was the architect
of the first Reform Act of 1832, extending the
right to vote. He was created Earl Russell in
1861. His grandson was Bertrand Russell, the
third Earl and one of the greatest philosophers
of the twentieth century. |
Russell
