Robert Russell (pioneer)

Robert Fraser "Old Bob" Russell (c. 1806 – 21 December 1891) was an English sailor and early colonist of South Australia.

History

He was second mate of the ship Duke of York, unofficial flagship of the First Fleet of South Australia, which brought the first British settlers to what became the colony of South Australia.

He is recorded as being deputized by Captain Morgan to carry ashore one or other of two daughters of T. H. Beare[a] that she might be the first to set foot in the new province, on 27 July 1836.[3]

Russell remained with the Duke of York when it sailed to Hobart, arriving 27 September, thence to Sydney, arriving 12 October[4] and then went whaling in the South Sea.[5] They picked up Captain Dixon and about 27 crew from the shipwrecked Active from one of the Fiji islands, but then the Duke of York ran aground near present-day Gladstone on 14 July 1837, and the crew took to the boats, sailing more than 200 miles to Moreton Bay, arriving on 26 August 1837. One boat was set upon by the local Aboriginal tribe, who killed one of the crew and a boy from the Active. Russell and several troopers caught a few suspects, but they escaped. Morgan, Russell and others of the Duke of York crew were brought back to Sydney by the steamer James Watt, arriving 31 August 1837.[6][7]

He returned to Adelaide as a settler, sometime before 1839, as he was assisting Captain Pullen, and was acquainted with William Light, who died 6 October 1839.[8]

It is likely his later occupation was fishing, perhaps as a partner of Israel Mazey,[9] a near neighbour and shipmate from Duke of York days.

Family

Russell married Eliza or Elizbeth Hislop (died c. 20 July 1891) in 1839.[10] Their children include:

  • John George Russell (1840 – 1 December 1911) married Susannah Carrington on 11 June 1877[11]
  • Thomas Hislop Russell (c. 1844 – 22 April 1917) married Susan[12]
  • Robert Jordan Russell (c. 1845 – 26 June 1922)
  • Helen Russell (5 October 1855 – 27 July 1942)

They had a home at Queen Street, Alberton

Notes

  1. ^ Either Elizabeth Beare (1834–1846) or Arabella Beare (1831–1905); or else the story is a fabrication, supported by the fact that Captain Morgan made no such entry in his log book.[1] Israel Mazey, one of the boatmen, supports Russell's assertion, and incidentally points out that Russell's landing precedes that of Samuel Stephens.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Barque "Duke of York"". The Kangaroo Island Courier. Vol. XXIX, no. 30. South Australia. 24 July 1936. p. 6. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "The First Man to Land in South Australia". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. XXXV, no. 10672. South Australia. 31 December 1892. p. 6. Retrieved 5 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "General News". The Adelaide Observer. Vol. LI, no. 2, 752. South Australia. 30 June 1894. p. 30. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". The True Colonist Van Diemen's Land Political Despatch, and Agricultural and Commercial... No. 168. Tasmania, Australia. 7 October 1836. p. 317. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Trade and Shipping". The Hobart Town Courier. Vol. IX, no. 531. Tasmania, Australia. 14 October 1836. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "The Sketcher". The Queenslander. Vol. L, no. 1084. Queensland, Australia. 1 August 1896. p. 204. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Vol. XXXV, no. 1390. New South Wales, Australia. 2 September 1837. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "The Advertiser". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. XXXIV, no. 10356. South Australia. 28 December 1891. p. 4. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Police Commissioners' Court". Southern Australian. Vol. VII, no. 570. South Australia. 1 November 1844. p. 3. Retrieved 5 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "The Infancy of South Australian Settlement". The Evening Journal (Adelaide). Vol. XVIII, no. 5348. South Australia. 31 July 1886. p. 6. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Family Notices". The Express and Telegraph. Vol. XIV, no. 4, 037. South Australia. 9 July 1877. p. 2 ). Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Family Notices". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. LIX, no. 18, 265. South Australia. 28 April 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 4 September 2025 – via National Library of Australia.

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