Edward John Russell (10 August 1878 – 18 July 1925) was an Australian politician. He served as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

for

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

from 1907 until his death in 1925. He began his career in the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

(ALP), but was expelled during the 1916 split and became a

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

. He served as

Vice-President of the Executive Council The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executiv ...

from 1918 to 1921 and was an assistant minister in the governments of

Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher (29 August 186222 October 1928) was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the fifth prime minister of Australia from 1908 to 1909, 1910 to 1913 and 1914 to 1915. He held office as the leader of the Australian ...

and

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923. He led the nation during World War I, and his influence on national politics s ...

. Following a nervous breakdown, his final years in the Senate were spent in mental institutions.

Early life

Russell was born on 10 August 1878 in

Warrnambool, Victoria Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

, the son of Mary Frances (née Conway) and Joseph Russell. His father was an Irish immigrant who worked as a baker. The family moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1890, during a largescale maritime strike. Russell attended the state school in Newport and St Mary's Catholic School in Williamstown. After leaving school he worked variously as a dray driver,

tinsmith A tinsmith is a historical term for a skilled craftsperson who makes and repairs things made of tin or other light metals. The profession was also known as a tinner, tinker, tinman, or tinplate worker; whitesmith may also refer to this profe ...

, and office clerk. Russell was involved with the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

from 1899, becoming a delegate from the Printers' Union to the

Melbourne Trades Hall Victorian Trades Hall is the headquarters of the Victorian Trades Hall Council in Australia. It is located on the corner of Lygon and Victoria streets, just north of the Melbourne central business district in the suburb of Carlton. It is t ...

. He developed his public-speaking skills through his participation in literary and debating societies.

Politics

Russell was an unsuccessful candidate for the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

at the 1904 state election, running for the

(ALP) in the seat of

Prahran Prahran ( , also colloquially or ), is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a population ...

. In 1906, he became a founding member of the

Victorian Socialist Party The Victorian Socialist Party (VSP), also known as the Socialist Party of Victoria, was a socialist political party in the Australian state of Victoria during the early 20th century. Most VSP members were also members of the Australian Labor ...

(VSP), which operated alongside the ALP.

Senate

Russell was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

at the 1906 federal election, to a six-year term beginning on 1 July 1907. He was the only ALP candidate elected in Victoria, polling the third-highest number of votes in the state. From September 1913 he was an assistant minister in the

Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia * Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elec ...

and Hughes governments. On 27 October 1916, he resigned from the ministry along with William Higgs and William Webster in opposition to Hughes handling of

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. Nevertheless, on 14 November 1916, he joined Hughes'

National Labor Party The National Labor Party (NLP) was an Australian political party formed by Prime Minister Billy Hughes in November 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of ...

government and was reappointed to the ministry as assistant minister. From March 1918 to December 1921, he was

. He was also chairman of various boards dealing with agricultural commodities and vice-president of the Board of Trade and for much of 1919 he was acting Minister for Defence.

Personal life

Russell married Maggie May Evans on 30 April 1907 in

Brunswick, Victoria Brunswick is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Merri-bek Local government areas of Victoria, local go ...

; she had also been involved in socialist politics. The couple had two sons and three daughters. Outside of politics, Russell served as chairman of the Gordon Memorial Committee, which organised an annual pilgrimage to the grave of poet

Adam Lindsay Gordon Adam Lindsay Gordon (19 October 1833 – 24 June 1870) was a British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He was the first Australian poet to gain considerable recognition overseas, and according to his contemporary, write ...

and sought to raise funds for an

equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

in his honour.

Ill health and death

Russell was unable to campaign at the 1922 federal election, having suffered a bout of pneumonia and a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. He was subsequently unable to return to public life. He was given two months' leave from the Senate in July 1923 due to ill health, and two further periods of six months' leave in March 1924 and June 1925. In January 1925, ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir ...

'' reported that Russell had been a resident at the

Sunbury Asylum Sunbury Lunatic Asylum was a 19th-century mental health facility known as a lunatic asylum, located in Sunbury, Victoria, Australia, first opened in October 1879. Prior to being opened as an asylum, Sunbury was controlled by the Department of ...

for nearly two months, after a previous stay at Royal Park Hospital for the Insane. The publication criticised parliament for allowing him to retain his seat in the Senate, describing it as "benevolence at the taxpayers' expense". Russell died at Sunbury on 18 July 1925, aged 46. According to '' The Herald'' his cause of death was "disease of the brain". He was granted a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

and interred at Brighton Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Edward John Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria Members of the Australian Senate Members of the Cabinet of Australia 1878 births 1925 deaths National Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia People from Warrnambool Politicians from Melbourne Australian people of Irish descent