Chairman of Westminster's Housing Committee 1945-9. His entry on the Wiki/Fandom website informs us that he was a company director and local politician who was elected to Westminster City Council as a councillor for St Anne Ward in 1925. He held the seat until 1945 when he was elevated to become an alderman. He remained a member of Westminster Council until his death, and was Mayor of Westminster for 1953-54. He also represented the city on the Metropolitan Water Board.
Charles Pearce Russell was born on 18 August 1881 at 74 Westow Hill, Upper Norwood, Croydon, Surrey (now Greater London), one of the eight children of Horatio Charles Russell (1846-1921) and Alice Maud Mary Russell née Turner (1859-1947). His birth was registered in the 4th quarter of 1887 in the Croydon Registration District, Surrey (now Greater London).
On the night of the 1891 census he is shown as aged 3 years and staying with his mother at the home of Harry George Fear (1856-1940), who was the husband of his maternal aunt Ellen Elizabeth Fear née Russell (1851-1917), at 22 The Marsh, Marlborough, Wiltshire.
When the 1901 census was undertaken he was recorded as aged 13 years and one of 30 boarding pupils at Longford, Third Avenue, Cliftonville, Margate, Kent.
When his father completed his 1911 census return form he showed his son, Charles Pearce Russell as aged 23 years, single and an assistant at a ladies outfitters, living at home with his parents in a 14 roomed house at 7 Palace Road, Brixton, London with a further 3 rooms above the attached stables. His father also recorded that his wife had given birth to eight children but that only six were still alive. Also residing at the property was Charles Pearce Russell's sister, Ethel Doris Russell (1889-1976), together with a cook, a lady's maid, a housemaid and a parlour maid. His father described himself as ladies outfitters employer.
On 11 July 1914 he married Marjorie May Warren (1889-1940) at St Alban's Church, Pretoria Road, Streatham, London, SW16, where in the marriage register he is shown as aged 26 years, a bachelor and ladies outfitter living at Red House, Palace Road, whilst his wife is shown as aged 25 years and a spinster residing at Thrale House, Streatham Hill, the daughter of Ernest Benjamin Radcliffe Warren, a gentleman.
When he completed his 1921 census return form he described himself as aged 33 years and 10 months, a managing director of a drapers at Wardour Street, London, living at Corner Cottage, Shiplake, Henley, Oxfordshire, with his wife and their two sons: Peter Charles Egan Russell (1915-1974) and Anthony Douglas Russell (1920-1990), together with 3 female domestic servants including a nurse and a cook. On the night of the census his widowed mother was also recorded as visiting there.
On 5 January 1928 he was admitted by redemption into the Worshipful Company of Wheelwrights and gave his address as Lyttleton House, St Johns Wood Road, London, NW8 and on 24 January 1928 he applied to be admitted into the Freedom of the City of London, also by redemption.
In the 1939 England and Wales Register his date of birth is confirmed as 18 August 1887 and that he was living at Latchfords, Walpole Avenue, Chipstead, Coulsdon, Surrey and was described as a draper and Chairman of Westminster City Council's Emergency Committee.
His wife died in 1940 and in the 3rd quarter of 1948 he married Evelyn Mary Victoria Simpson née Shackles (1887-1987) in the Westminster Registration District, London
As an Alderman in Westminster Council and a Justice of the Peace, the London Gazette shows that on 1 June 1953 he was made a Commander in the Royal Victorian Order (CVO).
His death was registered as aged 73 years in the 3rd quarter of 1961 in the Surrey North-Eastern Registration District. Probate records confirm that his address had been 55 Redcliffe Square, Earls Court, London, SW10 and that he died on 9 August 1961 at the Atkinson Morley Hospital, London, SW20. Administration of his estate was granted to his widow on 16 November 1961 and his effects totalled £4,598-19s-11d.
He is shown as 'ALDERMAN C.P.RUSSELL.J.P' on the Churchill Gardens memorial plaque attached to Chaucer House, Churchill Gardens Road, London, SW1.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them