The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Russell, Captain William Russell
Russell, Captain William Russell, M.H.R., is the son of Lieut.-Col. Andrew Hamilton Russell (q.v.), and was born at Sandhurst, Berkshire, England, on Nov. 12th, 1838. He went to New Zealand with his father in 1845 and remained three years, returning to England to be educated. Having joined the army, he was successively captain in the 58th and 14th regiments, revisiting New Zealand on military service in 1857, and again in 1861, when, having decided to settle in New Zealand, he purchased an estate at Flaxmere, near Hastings, in the Hawke's Bay district, where he is extensively engaged in squatting pursuits. Captain Russell was formerly a member of the Hawke's Bay Provincial Council, and having entered the General Assembly as M.H.R. for that district, was Postmaster-General and Commissioner of Telegraphs in the fourth Atkinson administration from August 28th to Sept. 3rd, 1884, and Colonial Secretary and Minister of Defence and Justice from Oct. 1889 to Dec. 1890. Captain Russell, who represented New Zealand at the Federation Conference held in Melbourne in 1890 and also at the Australasian National Convention held in Sydney in 1891, is President of the New Zealand Jockey Club. He was married at Chichester, Sussex, on July 11th, 1867, to Miss Harriette Julia Hodgskin. Captain Russell is one of the leaders of the Conservative party in New Zealand.