Miss Christina Russell 1877-1939

Miss Christina Russell left four paintings to Glasgow in 1927. (1) They were Lochranza Castle by William Beattie Brown; Arcady by Cecil Ray; Glenn Affric by Horatio McCulloch and Kirkcudbright by James G Laing.

Christina Russell can be seen as a not atypical female donor to Glasgow Museums at the beginning of the twentieth century. It is much easier to define her by the details of male relatives’ lives and by the houses in which she lived than to find anything about her own interests and pursuits. She was born on 24 July 1877 in Glasgow (2) to Thomas Russell and his wife Jessie, née McGregor, then living in Bute Terrace, Queens Park, Glasgow. Her father was a retail fruit merchant who sold from the Old Fruit Market in Glasgow in partnership with William Turnbull and their names may be seen on the balcony in the Old Fruit Market. (3)

The business was dissolved in 1923 on the retirement of three of the Turnbull brothers and continued by Thomas Russell, the son, as sole owner(4). There were three other children, Catherine ((1876 to 8 June 1961)(5), Thomas (1879 to 8 February 1927)(6) and Alexander (1883 to 19 January 1915).(7) Christine lived in the family home all her life moving from Kinning Park to Govan, 29 Princess Square,(8) and then finally to Newark Drive in Pollokshields. (9)  In the next 10 years family members died and she was left alone.Her brother Alexander had married Margaret Ritchie in London in 1912(10) and moved back to Glasgow to Fotheringay Road where he died in 1915. (11)   Her father, Thomas, died in April 19, 1915. (12) His obituary said that he had been a Justice of the  Peace and one time Chairman of the Agricultural Society.(13) Her mother, Jessie, died in July 1925 (14) and her brother, Thomas, died in July 1927.(15) Her sister-in-law, Margaret Russell lived in Terregles Avenue.(16)

The Wills of Thomas senior ((17) and of his son Thomas (18) show that both were successful businessmen. It was after the death of her brother Thomas that she gave these four paintings to Glasgow. Was this the reason for the donation? There is no information about the purchase of these paintings and who was the art lover.

Christine Russell died on 1 November 1939(19) and her ashes are buried in the family lair in Cathcart Cemetery. Unfortunately the gravestone is face down but details were available from East Renfrewshire Council(20).

References

1. Glasgow City Council Minutes.
2. National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1877
3. © Culture and Sport Glasgow (Arts and Music)
4. Edinburgh Gazette: May1, 1923. Page649
5. National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1876
6. National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1879
7. National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1883
8. National Records of Scotland Census 1901
9. National Records of Scotland Census 1911
10. London, England. Church of England Marriages and Banns.1754.1932
11. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1915
12. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1915
13. Glasgow Herald,1915. Obituary
14. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1925
15. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1927
16. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1939
17. National Records of Scotland Statutory Wills and Testaments 1917
18. National Records of Scotland Statutory Wills and Testaments 1927
19. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1939
20. Cathcart Cemetery Records. East Renfrewshire Council