Sir Henry Russell 2nd Bt

Henry Russell was born in 1783 the son of Sir Henry Russell 1st Baronet, Chief Justice of Bengal. His mother was Anne Barbara Whitworth. From 1798 to 1805 he was private secretary to James Kirkpatrick, British Resident at Hyderabad. Russell became British Resident in Poona in 1809 and was then appointed as Resident to the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad from 1810. However, he was accused of corruption and resigned in 1820 before he was disgraced. In 1813 he raised the Russell Brigade, composed of 2 battalions. Later, four more battalions were raised, known as the Berar Infantry. Two battalions, known as the Elichpur Brigade were raised by Nawab Salabat Khan, Subedar of Berar, as part of the Nizam’s forces. The Nizam’s fabulous wealth made it easy for Russell to accumulate 85,000 pounds during the ten years he was there as Resident. In 1820 he retired to England and lived at Sutton Park, Bedfordshire, then at Southernhay House, a classical mansion in Exeter. In 1808 he was married to Jane Casamajor in Madras, but she died 2 months later. He had an affair with a lady who gave birth to their daughter, Mary Wilson in 1815. She was kept secretly in England. Sir Henry secondly married Marie Clothilde Mottet de Fontaine and they had six children, two born in India and four in England. Russell’s father purchased Swallowfield Park, near Reading which became the family home for more than 150 years. Sir Henry inherited the title and the estate at Swallowfield in 1836, but died on 19 April 1852.