Fonds RC0939 - Anne Russell fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Anne Russell fonds

General material designation

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    Level of description

    Fonds

    Reference code

    RC0939

    Edition area

    Edition statement

    Edition statement of responsibility

    Class of material specific details area

    Statement of scale (cartographic)

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    Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

    Dates of creation area

    Date(s)

    • ca. 1956-1965 (Creation)
      Creator
      Russell, Felicity Anne

    Physical description area

    Physical description

    8 cm textual records.

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    Archival description area

    Name of creator

    (1945-)

    Biographical history

    Felicity Anne Russell (hereafter, Anne) was a granddaughter of Bertrand Russell, philosopher and peace activist, by adoption. Her adoptive father, John Conrad Russell, was Bertrand Russell’s first son from his marriage to Dora Black. Her mother, Susan Doniphan Lindsay, was the daughter of American poet Vachel Lindsay.

    Anne was the child of Susan Lindsay and an unidentified father. She was born on September 2, 1945. Susan Lindsay met John Russell when Anne was an infant in 1945; in August 1946, John and Susan married, and by 1947, John had formally adopted Anne.

    Anne’s family initially lived in several locations in England after her parents’ marriage, including Kilburn (with Dora Russell), St. John’s Wood in North London (with Griffin Barry, a former romantic partner of Dora Russell and the father of two of her children), a flat on Cambrian Road in Richmond, and, by 1950, the main floor of Bertrand Russell’s home in Richmond (Monk 315-317). After this last move, Anne Russell began attending Kingsmuir School, a boarding school in Sussex (Griffin 503).

    In December 1952, Bertrand Russell married his fourth wife, Edith Finch, and soon after she moved into the Queen’s Road home, Anne’s parents moved out of it (Monk 355). Anne’s parents separated in 1954 and divorced by 1955 (Monk 359-360).

    Thereafter, Anne and her sisters became the subjects of a protracted family custody dispute, the result of which was that Bertrand and Edith Russell won full custody of the children in 1961, with their father, John Russell, retaining visitation rights (Monk 400).

    1956, Bertrand and Edith Russell moved the family to Plas Penrhyn, their home in Wales. Following this move, Anne and her sisters attended Moreton Hall, a private girls’ boarding school in Shropshire (Monk 370; Griffin 503). Near Russell’s home in Wales lived the Cooper-Willis family: mother Susan Williams-Ellis, a renowned potter; father Euan Cooper-Willis, and daughters Siân and Anwyl, who were close friends of Anne and her sisters.

    Anne left Moreton Hall in 1962 (Monk 485). It is likely that she went on to complete her studies at Dartington Hall, a progressive co-educational boarding school in Devon, as her sisters Sarah and Lucy did this as well.

    Little documentary evidence exists in the Russell archive about Anne’s adult life, though Ray Monk notes that she moved to New Mexico in 1975, where she has lived ever since (500).

    Custodial history

    Scope and content

    Fonds consists of records created or received by Anne Russell, particularly during the period of her secondary education (ca. 1956-1962).

    Notes area

    Physical condition

    Immediate source of acquisition

    Anne Russell’s papers were acquired with the archive of her sister, Lucy Catherine Russell. Lucy’s papers and associated records were acquired by McMaster from Ray Monk in February 2022.

    Arrangement

    Fonds is arranged in three series:

    Series 1: School records.
    Series 2: Artwork.
    Series 3: Ephemera.

    Language of material

      Script of material

        Location of originals

        Availability of other formats

        Restrictions on access

        No access restrictions.

        Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

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        Related materials

        Accruals

        Further accruals are not expected.

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        Standard number

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        Dates of creation, revision and deletion

        G. Dunks, 2024.

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          Script of description

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            Accession area