Edward John Russell

Edward John Russell (10 August 1878 – 18 July 1925) was an Australian politician. He served as a senator for Victoria from 1907 until his death in 1925. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but was expelled during the 1916 split and became a Nationalist. He served as Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1918 to 1921 and was an assistant minister in the governments of Andrew Fisher and Billy Hughes. 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, 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 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, and office clerk.

Russell was involved with the labour movement from 1899, becoming a delegate from the Printers' Union to the Melbourne Trades Hall.

Ill health and death Russell was unable to campaign at the 1922 federal election, having suffered a bout of pneumonia and a nervous breakdown. He was subsequently unable to return to public life. and two further periods of six months' leave in March 1924 and June 1925.

In January 1925, Smith's Weekly reported that Russell had been a resident at the Sunbury Asylum 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. He was granted a state funeral and interred at Brighton Cemetery.