Isabel Ellen Bruce ^18,410

  General Notes:

From The Times, February 21, 1934

The Hon. Mrs. Isabel Ellen Russell, who died last week, was the wife
of Mr. Champion Branfil Russell, of Stubbers, N. Ockendon, Essex. She
was the seventh daughter of the first Lord Aberdare, Henry Austin
Bruce, who was one of the great educationists of the mid-Victorian
period. It was undoubtedly through her father, who was for two years
Vice-President of the Board of Education, and her early home
influences at Duffryn, in Glamorgan, that Mrs. Russell, like her
brothers and sisters, became interested in education. In the later
years of his life Lord Aberdare took an active part in the foundation
of the University College of South Wales and it was through him that
Aberdare Hall wsa established as the hall of residence for women.
Mrs. Russell became its firt principal, and in those early days she
did much to make the lives of young women, who came largely from
village homes in Wales, easy and pleasant while they pursued their
studies. Some of those students she kept in touch with for nearly
half a century, and tributes have repeatedly been paid to her by those
who gratefully remember her work at Cardiff.
She was married in 1887 to Mr. Russell, and in Essex was again active
in educational movements and social welfare. At one time she was a
member of the Education Committee of the Essex County Council and for
many years Governor of Palmer's School, Grays. One of her sisters,
the Hon. Alice Moore Bruce, was for some years Vice-Principal of
Somerville College, Oxford, and her brother, the Hon. William Napier
Bruce, formerly Second Secretary of the Board of Education, is now
Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales. She is survived by her
husband, two sons, and three daughters. Her second son was killed in
action in 1915.

  Noted events in her life were:

1. She appeared on the census in 1871 in 1 Queen's Gate, Kensington, London.

2. She appeared on the census in 1881 in Duffryn Mansion, Aberdare, Glamorgan, Wales.

3. She appeared on the census in 1891 in Stubbers, North Ockendon, Essex. ²³

4. She appeared on the census in 1911 in Stubbers, North Ockendon, Essex.

5. Resided: 13 February 1934, Stubbers, North Ockendon, Essex. ¹³

6. She had an estate probated on 16 April 1934 in London. ¹³

Isabel married Champion Branfill Russell, son of Champion Russell and Emily Augusta Way, in 1887.⁵⁴ (Champion Branfill Russell was born c 1861 in North Ockendon, Essex ²³ and died on 8 September 1945 in North Ockendon, Essex ¹³.)