Sir Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet

Sir Henry Russell, 2nd Baronet (27 May 1783 – 19 April 1852), was an English diplomat of the East India Company and landowner.

Early life Russell was born on 27 May 1783. He was the eldest surviving son of Sir Henry Russell, 1st Baronet, and his second wife, Anne Barbara Whitworth (1763–1814). Among his siblings were Charles Russell (MP for Reading), Francis Whitworth Russell (who married Jane Anne Catherine Brodie),

His paternal grandparents were Michael Russell of Dover, and the former Hannah Henshaw (a daughter of Henry Henshaw). His mother was the fifth daughter of Sir Charles Whitworth, and his maternal uncle was Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth. He was subsequently appointed a Resident in his own right to the court of the Peshwa at Pune in 1809, and was promoted the following year to Kirkpatrick's old Residency in Hyderabad, serving from 1810 until 1820, when he resigned to avert an investigation for corruption which would have led to his removal from office in disgrace. On an annual salary of £3,400, he had managed to accumulate a fortune of £85,000 over 10 years.

Personal life

In October 1808 Russell married Jane Amelia Casamajor, a daughter of John Casamaijor, in Madras. Jane died suddenly just two months after they were married.

On 13 November 1816, he married Marie Clotilde Mottet de la Fontaine (1793–1872), a French Catholic who was the daughter of Benoît Mottet de La Fontaine, Baron fieffé de Saint Corneille, the last French Governor of Pondicherry. Her first cousin was Agathe de Rambaud, the official nurse of the royal children, and particularly was in charge of the Dauphin from 1785 to 1792. Together, they were the parents of six children:

Henry Russell (1819–1847), who died unmarried in Cairo. a daughter of Lt.-Col. Lord Arthur Lennox and (son of the 4th Duke of Richmond), in 1867. and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Charles. After Charles died unmarried in 1883, the baronetcy passed to Sir Henry's next surviving son, George.

Illegitimate daughter After the death of his first wife and before his marriage to his second, Russell had a liaison with a local lady which resulted in the birth of his daughter, who he named Mary Wilson in 1815. This child was brought to England when he retired, and was brought up in complete secrecy, with Sir Henry's friend, Major Robert Pitman, acting as a go-between. He provided an allowance for her, but refused to let Major Pitman tell her the identity of her father. Mary married the Reverend William Langston Coxhead in 1839, who was incumbent of Kirby le Soken, Essex.