Family of Thomas Henry and Valeria Vassall Samms RUSSELL (nee Harley)

[mrussell]

Thomas Henry Russell married Valeria Vassall Samms Harley on 5 July 1854 in the parish church, Hammersmith, County of Middlesex.   Their children were:   Percy James b. 1859;  Herbert Cecil b. 1860; Frank Octavius b. 1861;  John Stuart b. 1864;  Ernest Harley b. 1865;  Studley T. b. 1867;  Valeria Vassall Samms b. 1870 and Harold b. 1871 - all registered in Lambeth.

My husband is the grandson of Frank Octavius.

I would be more than glad to have contact with anyone who may be researching any of the above.
mrussell

[barnoldswick]

I have been doing some research on the Russell and Harley families. My Great Grandfather was Cecil Henry St Leger Russell born in Trinidad in 1862, son of Richard Russell and Rosa Harrison Reid (Harley). The two brothers of Rosa, Thomas and James Daly Harley both went to Australia in 1852 and I have a fair amount of information on their life there, if it would be of interest. I realize that this is a very late reply to your question of five years ago !

[mrussell]

Dear Michael
I've just read your response of 31 May this year - so glad you tried again.
Regards
Marian

[bobfo0161]

I was very interested to read that you are the great-grandson of Cecil Henry St Leger Russell, as I am doing some research into the artistic career of his daughter, Cecil Gwendolen St Leger Russell, under the name inherited from her first marriage, Cecil G. Trew - in particular her "Reveries of Omar Khayyam" published in Los Angeles in 1929. Are you her grandson ? I have seen many of her book illustrations, and have managed to unearth some details of her life via ancestry websites, but obviously it would help a great deal to make contact with living members of her family, so I would be very grateful if you could get back to me on this. With thanks in advance for your time, and with fingers crossed! Best Wishes, Bob Forrest.

[barnoldswick]

Hello Bob,
Yes my grandmother was Gwendolen Russell who wrote under her middle name of Cecil G Trew. She married Neil Trew, a doctor in Los Angeles when he was in Bristol England helping with WWI. They then moved back to LA  where she lived until his death, at which time she moved back to Bristol with her family. I do not have a copy of the bool you mention but have most of her others. I would be more than happy to give you any information that I have which might be of interest to you.
Michael Mather

[bobfo0161]

Hello Michael,

Great to hear from you and many thanks for getting back to me so quickly. So you must be the son of Elizabeth Mather (nee Trew), yes? "Reveries" is not so much a book as a portfolio of loose-leaf black and white drawings, each illustrating a verse of "The Rubaiyat". It is rare, difficult to find, and expensive when it does turn up (but well worth it for the art-work!) I can send you images of my copy, if you like, but with 20+ images and some other stuff I'd like to send you for comment, this isn't really the forum for it. I'm reluctant to put my email address openly on a website, but if you go to my own website (http://bobforrestweb.co.uk/ ) and scroll right down the home page, you'll find a secure contact box. If you use that, we can then use ordinary email. I doubt I've found out anything about your grandmother from my trawl of ancestry websites that you don't already know, but I may have some new information for you about her artistic career, and, of course, I am eager to hear any details of what you know from your family about that career. Again, many thanks for getting back to me so quickly, and I look forward very much to hearing from you further. Best Wishes, Bob

[barnoldswick]

Hello Bob,
I am just about to leave on vacation for 10 days but will try and contact you on my journey. It would be terrific to see the illustrations so I will go to your web site when I get the chance. I have attached a review from The Science of Mind May 1930 which may interest you if you have not seen it.
Will contact you again soon,
Michael