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  1. #11
    Coromandel
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    Aha! At last, here is a baptism for one of the children (Samuel, on 4 August 1816, at Stockton). His father Henry was then a mariner.

    P.S. and here is another one, Henry (described as the 2nd son), baptised 13 Nov. 1818.

    P.P.S. and there's just time to squeeze in one more Stockton baptism before my editing time is up. Eleanor, 2nd daughter of Henry & Elizabeth Russell, baptised 28 May 1813. As with the two later baptisms, the father is shown as a mariner.

  2. #12
    Coromandel
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    A descendant of Samuel Russell quotes part of this account written by Samuel:

    'My father, Henry Russell, was born 24 October 1790 in Stockton, County Durham, England. My mother was Elizabeth Broom, born 13 September 1779 in Monkwearmouth, County Durham, England. My father, Henry Russell, was Captain of the barque, "Pleiades", owned by Thomas Laidler, timber merchant, of Darlington. This ship was engaged in the timber trade between England and America.'

    This is from a vintage (1999) message on the Mariners-L mailing list,

    https://
    archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/MARINERS/1999-04/0923752577

    It should be easier to check the facts now that there are full dates and places to work with.

    (If this date of birth is correct, though, it would make Henry only 16 at the time of the marriage in 1806 !)

  3. #13
    Coromandel
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    Sorry, in the quote above, I missed out a crucial sentence. After the parents' birthdates it should go on to say:

    'They were married 24 December 1806 at Ripon, Yorkshire County, England.'

  4. #14
    Mike Russell
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    Wow! This certainly does open things up! I suspect Henry's date of birth may be incorrect at 1790 but I'll keep it in mind. We did have the year of his marriage at Ripon in 1806, but with a different month.

    The improtant thing is that, having confirmation of his status and the name and pwnership of his ship, we begin to have the possibility of finding out about his 'death' in the East Indies. My sister is also working on this, so with this info between the two of us, we should start to get somewhere. Thabks again

    Mike

    Thanks again.

  5. #15
    Coromandel
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    I was just looking for clues in newspapers about Henry senior when I found something which may relate to Henry junior. Do you know what happened to him? If he disappears after around 1844 there may be a bit of a skeleton in the cupboard involving some forged bank notes.


    Let me know if you want details!

  6. #16
    Mike Russell
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    That sounds interesting!

    Henry Junior (b 1818) died in July 1892 and is buried at Greatham. We have know knowledge of any forged banknotes. If the item you have found might fill in some details I would be very interested.

    Meanwhile, since Henry Senior (b 1779?) would have been only 16 on his marriage to Elizabeth, according to David Russell, I'm sticking for the moment with 1779 as his birth date - especially since Elizabeth was born on that date too.

    I see incidentally, that the Thomas Laidler, who owned the barque Pleiades, was Master of the Restoration Freemason's Lodge in Stockton 1838-40. The Lodge still exists and may have some details about him; I'll be getting in touch with them.

    Thanks

  7. #17
    Coromandel
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    Well, Henry Russell, a rather ingenious forger, was 26 years old in 1844 according to one newspaper report, which would put his d.o.b. as around 1818. We also learn that he had been an assistant master at the Blue Coat School in Stockton (during which time he lived with his mother in the Square) but had recently taken up a new position in Barnard Castle. Oh, and he did have a distinguishing feature: he only had one arm. (Strange: that's the second one-armed man mentioned on the forum today.) (I don't suppose any of your family history bits and pieces mention missing limbs?)

    Here are parts of the story from newspapers:

    Jackson's Oxford Journal, 23 November 1844
    'Henry Russell, formerly schoolmaster, Matthew and James Watson (father and son), brewers and cornfactors, and Daniel Buglass, spirit dealer, committed to Durham gaol for trial at ensuing Winter Assize, on charge of forging notes of Stockton and Durham County Bank - Russell has made full confession of guilt, implicating the other parties, and says only 20 had been issued - 8 only have been found, and these passed two days before their apprehension.'

    The Morning Post, 16 Nov. 1844 has a long report on 'The Durham Forgeries', copied from a Sunderland paper:
    'The principal forger is a person named Henry Russell, formerly of Stockton but for a few weeks past master of the national school at Barnard Castle. By some accident in his younger years he lost his right arm, so that he has only the left remaining..'

    It goes on to tell how, while the suspects were in the lock-up in Stockton, Henry Russell 'tore a leaf from his note book, which was gilt-edged, and wrote a few lines upon it to send to old Watson' [suggesting that they try to put all the blame on James Watson] and hid it in one of 'a couple of cakes brought him for tea'.

    Before the magistrates, Henry Russell 'made a full confession of the whole forgery' and said that he and the Watsons 'had commenced forging operations in May, in the present year, he (the schoolmaster) being the sole originator of the scheme, and the two Watsons his assistants, the plate being engraven by the electro-magnetic process...'

    The trial at the Assizes is reported in detail in the Newcastle Courant of 20 Dec. 1844. James Watson said he had known Russell since 1841, and that he (Russell) left Stockton last May. John Young, master of the Blue Coat Charity School, Stockton, was called as a witness; he said that Russell had formerly been his assistant but had 'left on the last day of September to go to a better situation.' 'During the time he was assistant to witness his conduct was satisfactory. He resided all that time with his mother in the Square.'

    A report in the Leeds Mercury of 28 Dec. 1844 says that Henry Russell was 26 years old.

    Henry Russell and the two Watsons were sentenced to 20 years' transportation and Buglass to 15 years. Yesterday, when I was at the library, I checked the transportation records on Ancestry and only found Matthew Watson and David Buglass being transported. I didn't copy down the dates or details, I'm afraid. The younger Watson was pardoned:

    Newcastle Courant, 7 February 1845:
    'A free pardon has been granted to James Watson, who was indicted at the last Durham Winter Assizes, along with Matthew Watson, Henry Russell, and David Buglass . . . It will be recollected that Watson was examined as a witness for the crown.'

    I have not yet been able to find out what happened to this Henry Russell. It may be worth you getting a subscription to the British Newspaper Archive website which has a wider range of newspapers, including the Sunderland Echo I think.

  8. #18
    Coromandel
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    Hi Mike, me again!

    I haven't studied the Stockton parish registers in depth, but out of interest did have a look at baptisms around 1790 to see if there was anything matching the 1790 birthdate for Henry Russell given in Samuel Russell's writings.

    Interestingly, there is a baptism at Stockton on 2 January 1791 of Henry, son of 'Samuel Russell and Hannah his Wife'. Henry's date of birth is not stated, so we can't be sure it is the right Henry. However, it is encouraging that the father's name is Samuel. It would be wise to check through the burial registers for Stockton to make sure that this Henry did not die in infancy. A thorough search of the Stockton parish registers might reveal much more about Samuel & Hannah.

    I think it is crucial to locate the marriage entry for Henry & Elizabeth. If Henry was under age at the time it ought to say so in the marriage register. I haven't had any luck at finding Ripon marriages online. The Ripon Historical Society and Family History Group may be able to help you:

    https://www.
    riponhistoricalsociety.org.uk/

    (They sell some Ripon parish records on fiche and CD.)

  9. #19
    Mike Russell
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    Well, this is a bit of an eye-opener! So far as I am aware, there is no mention of any of this in our records, but I have passed the info on to my sister and she will focus her search a bit. Of course, it is possible that this was an entirely other Henry Russell. It's interesting that the case made the national press (Morning Post) but I wonder what the Oxford Journal connection was? I'll look into subscribing to the newspaper archives as you suggest.

    Mike

  10. #20
    Mike Russell
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    This is intersting, if somewhat confusing. Could Samuel be Henry's Father, or other relative? We do have a Hannah Margaret Russell, daughter of Samuel (1816) and Ann Ranson Rush, born at W Hartlepool 1854. The given name Hannah does suggest a true connection with Samuel and Hannah but the dates are perplexing.

    With this new info we'll focus on Henry and Elizabeth and the other possibilities you mention.

    Mike

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