Help find WILLIAM RUSSELL and family pls?

[ThommoS]

Hi,

I have been trying for some time - albeit unsuccessfully, to find the family of William and Jessie RUSSELL and would appreciate any help please

This is all the information I have so far and it's emanated from the Marriage and Death Certificates of their son Joseph RUSSELL

Parents:
William RUSSELL an Engineer, and
Jessie RUSSELL (nee CAMERON), ...........

other info on the family:

son: Joseph RUSSELL,
Born: 31 Oct 1869, Inverness, Scotland
Was in New Zealand in late 1880's (from a photo taken)
Arrived in Australia in 1890
Married Annie HAWTON in Victoria 1899
Died from TB in Victoria 1916 .
 
Have no information whether Joseph had siblings, where his parents came from or their ages but there's no reference found for them in Australia - so assumed they did not migrate with him.
 
With some kind assistance on the RootsChat Inverness Board, I have been searching Scotlandspeople, LDS, IGI and others for any references to the family in Scotland:  to date nothing has come to light in any positive way.

Am now thinking that perhaps the family were not Scottish, but only there in 1869 when Joseph was born.

William Russell was an engineer - possible he may have been in Inverness in 1869 for the Rail Extension being built at that time or another job and then returned to his home when done.....that's why no Scottish records for them - one theory at least so am clutching at straws .

I only have access to the 1851 UK census which is too early to find them on what is known so could I ask for someone with access to later census info, to see if the family of William, Jessie and Joseph RUSSELL are listed and where please?

Undoubtedly it's a big ask based on what little I have... but any help or suggestions would be really appreciated thanks.

Cheers.........Tom

[rosie99]

I only have access to the 1851 UK census which is too early to find them on what is known so could I ask for someone with access to later census info, to see if the family of William, Jessie and Joseph RUSSELL are listed and where please?

1881 census is free to view on a few web sites including familysearch 
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1321821
Rosie

[ThommoS]

Tks Rosie - had been trying that site (familysearch) for some time now but each time keep getting an error message saying they are "unable to display results due to technical difficulties"......have tried a few other links as well but without success.. 

[sami]

Hi Tom:

I've been looking a bit into your search for Joseph's family. Just posting this link to keep from repeating some of the previous research:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,641108.0.html

There are more than a few William/Jessie Russell combinations in the 1871 and 1881 census. But I couldn't seem to find anything with William (Engineer)/Jessie/Joseph (born in Scotland). Nor could I find a marriage for Jessie Cameron and William Russell. Did you ever find a marriage for Jessie and William in Scotland?

I've been wondering if Joseph was born under another surname, and if Jessie was not a Cameron when she married William.

I also wondered about this Russell family in Yorkshire on the 1871 census because its possible young Joseph is yours even though his birthplace is down as Yorkshire:

William Russell, Head, 45, 1826,
Mary Russell, Wife, 44, 1827,
Fanny Hutchinson, Niece, 15, 1856,
John Hutchinson, Nephew, 11, 1860,
Joseph Russell, Nephew, 2, 1869,

RG10, piece 4511, folio 75, page 8

[ThommoS]

Hi Sami,

Thanks for helping, yes, this family is a real mystery .....I still haven't found any marriage for William and Jessie in Scotlandspeople so that's the reason I posted here in the hope that perhaps they may have been from England and the 1871 census would show something..reason being that Joseph was born in 1869, assume he would have still been in the company of his parents then and the 3 names, William, Jessie and Joseph may have cropped up in the one place......more so than the 1881 census.

All I have to go on is the original marriage (1899) and death (1916) certificates for Joseph - the first search was for any possible siblings in Australia with those parents listed but none have been found and neither is there sibling reference in family documentation

Joseph and his family were all strict Primitive Methodists - but whether that applied to William and Jessie I don't know - but it's an avenue I am still pursuing to identify any such Churches in the area for a possible marriage.......no luck so far.

Appreciate your help....................Tom

[ThommoS]

Prior to commencing this census post search I posted on the Inverness Forum in trying to find William and Jessies' child Joseph Russell in Inverness Scotland - based solely on information held, Imber has probably come up with a solution that affects this search to suggest Joseph RUSSELL as "Crofted" to the Robertson family - so not wanting to cross post it's referenced here:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,641108.new.html#new

Makes a lot of sense now in view of what's been found of late.....I am indebted for all the help and suggestions so far....Tom

[ThommoS]

Sami,

I have gone back over all the (scant) RUSSELL family info I have and a Yorkshire reference does not arise anywhere to confirm etc so could I please ask, does it list where this Yorkshire William, Mary and their nephews/nieces you mentioned were born on that census?

In reading the info, it would appear the 2 year old Joseph mentioned, would most likely be Williams brothers son as he's named a RUSSELL - if that makes sense.... I doubt there would be 2 brothers named William in the one family (but stranger things have happened )  so I suppose the next process will be to identify that Williams family and where he came from, if they were Yorkshire born and bred with Joseph later "crofted".....

Since your last post I have been trying to see if my Joseph had any siblings and there was a Hutchinson or William connection later on, but haven't found any in Australia - likewise, there's no mention of a Jessie Cameron?

I have to agree with you, looks like there's something amiss in that line - just doesn't make sense so far.............Tom