Chambers Russell (1713–1766) was a lawyer and judge from the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Eng ...

. Born in Charlestown, he graduated

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1731, read law with John Reed, and settled in Concord. He was a leading force in the incorporation of Lincoln from parts of Concord and other towns, and was given the honor of naming the new town (which he did in honor of the ancestral home of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

). His home, now known as the

Codman House The Codman House (also known as The Grange) is a historic house set on a estate at 36 Codman Road, Lincoln, Massachusetts. Thanks to a gift by Dorothy Codman, it has been owned by Historic New England since 1969 and is open to the public June ...

, still stands. He represented Lincoln in the provincial assembly for eight years. He was an associate justice of the

Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously fun ...

from 1752 to 1766, and a judge of the Crown admiralty court covering Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire from 1747 until 1766. In the latter role Russell was disliked by New England merchants for his rulings concerning ships seized for actions of their owners that violated the

Navigation Acts The Navigation Acts, or more broadly the Acts of Trade and Navigation, were a series of English laws that developed, promoted, and regulated English ships, shipping, trade, and commerce with other countries and with its own colonies. The laws al ...

and were deemed to be smuggling. He died in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

after a brief illness.

References

1713 births 1766 deaths People from Charlestown, Boston Harvard College alumni Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature 18th-century American judges People from colonial Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-state-judge-stub