Can anyone confirm.

COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE FRANCIS BROADFOOT RUSSELL
ROYAL ARTILLERY, KILLED IN ACTION--ISANDLWANA-ZULU WAR OF 1879.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

As anyone got another photo for comparison.

SD

Based on the Photo, posted by 1879Graves, I would say it was not him.
But that's just my opinion.

Nice Photo though.

I don't know, ears and nose looks the same. What do we know about this chap, apart from he was KIA at Isandlwana. Did Curling mentioned him in any of his letters.

G

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Photo Copyright John. Young

Captain Francis Broadfoot RUSSELL - 11th Battery, 7th Brigade, Royal Artillery.
Killed at Isandlwana, 22nd January 1879. Aged 36. Son of Lieut-Colonel F. Russell (Madras Infantry). Born in India.

Click here:rocket - Russell’s rocket battery.

Hard to say, I'm thinking not Captain Francis Broadfoot RUSSELL. But thanks for your replies so far.

hi all.
I tend to think it is him.
cheers 90th.

Is the photo taken in Halifax England or Canada , if the latter we could perhaps check if he was ever posted there?

Halifax England.

So does anyone know if Russel had any links with Halifax England , i dont think there would be a garrison there so whoever is in the photo maybe lived there , visited family ? do we have adate for the photo to check the Census .

Hi Garywilson1

This is all I have on him.

Major Francis Broadfoot Russell, who was killed at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, was the eldest son of Lieutenant-Colonel F. Russell, of the Madras Infantry. He was born in India on 4 September 1842. In 1861 he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, and, on 24 March 1865, obtained a commission in the Royal Artillery. He served in Malta and in Canada, and returning to England in 1869, passed through a course of gunnery instruction at Shoeburyness. In 1870 he proceeded to India, and thence to Aden, at which station he was placed in command of the Native Artillery. On the removal of that force to Upper Sind, he was appointed district-adjutant in Aden, and held the appointment for two years. On obtaining his company in October 1877, Captain Russell was ordered to join his battery at Pietermaritzburg, and being at that time the senior officer present, held command of it for some months. In November 1878, he received his brevet-majority. Prior to the outbreak of the Zulu war he acted as districtadjutant on Colonel Pearson’s staff, and was about to proceed to the front in that capacity when Lord Chelmsford’s forces were massed on the Natal and Transvaal frontiers with a view to the invasion of Zululand; his services were, however, requisitioned to organise a rocket battery, in command of which he left Pietermaritzburg on 22nd December 1878, to join Colonel Durnford’s column.

And we know that rest.

there does not seem to be much of a link with Halifax there ?

Probably too late to be of any use (I have only just joined the forum!), but I don't think this can be Major Russell.

The first thing to say is that Millman & Ray - also known as the Halifax Photographic Co - seem to have been in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada), rather than Halifax, Yorkshire, England. See here: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Second, although I know little or nothing of military uniforms, my feeling about the image and the style of printing on the mounting card is that it dates from the late 1870s-early 1880s; and the only other dated examples I've been able to find of work by Millman & Ray date to the 1880s too.

My guess is that the sitter is in his mid to late 20s; Russell, born in 1842, would have been 30 in 1872, and I feel this chap is a bit too young.

If you are still looking for info (and still on the forum), a bit more detail on the photo might help pin things down date-wise. What size is it? And is there anything printed on the back - if so, an image if possible?

Fair Point osmposm. Welcome to the forum. I will try and find out. (Back of photo)

Hi all .
I see he seved in Canada and returned to england in 1869 , so he would have been 27 yrs of age when he returned to England .
He was born in 1842 . The chap in the photo appears to be a similar / same age. Was Russell married ? , If so when ?.
As the chap in the photo appears to be wearing a wedding ring !. He certainly was in Nova Scotia / Canada . I think it may be him .
The timeline is right and after all he was over there .
cheers 90th.

Page 60. The big silver book.
Similar posed photo of Russell from the Royal Archives. The pose is so similar down to the riding crop and gloves. The undress uniform is different however with 5 braids not four, collar insignia and braid on the collar.
My vote is no.

Regards

Hmmmm....fool that I am, I'd missed that glaringly obvious information that Russell served in Canada, and at a time that would fit with the age of the sitter (if the photo is late 1860s).

However......I'm still worried about the style of photo for that date – three-quarter length, no studio props, relaxed pose – and even more worried about the exuberant mix of aestheticism-inspired typefaces on the card - I would expect something simpler for the period. As far as the photo’s concerned, British portraits of the late ’60s were generally full-length or seated. However, it may be that in Canada fashions were different – certainly in the U.S. three-quarter shots seem to have been common by the time of the Civil War. The style of facial hair doesn’t help us – moustache & sideburns were popular in the ’60s, but young officers were still wearing ’burns (though less universally) into the ’80s, and the ’tache just became more and more popular well into the 20th Century.

Are there any clues in the uniform – do we have any experts, I wonder? Yes, its size would be helpful – it seems a fraction broader than a normal carte-de-visite’s overall 4 in x 2½ in (I presume it’s a CDV). And is that printing dark brown or gold? However, as I’ve said, the back is what I’d really like to see – the style of printing there (if there is any) may settle the matter.

Ossie

PS What is the “Big Silver Book”?

Hi Ossie
The big silver book is a book written by Ian Knight called 'Zulu, Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift.' Its a must for any student of the battles. Quite often comes up on e bay at reasonable figures.

90th quite offten finds them and publishes it on the forum, personaly Im pretty sure he has shares in the book.
Regards

Hi springbok.
I wish I had shares in the Big Silver Book ! . The picture you mention on page 60 is indeed the same photo that
Pete ( Admin ) posted on this thread earlier courtesy of John Young . Differant topic I know , but have no idea on
who J. Raymond is and dont know of Fort Revenge ! , as yet . .
cheers 90th.

90th
If all questions were easy they wouldnt be so much fun.

Whats interesting is that Pete has credited John Young with copyrite, Ian Knight says the royal archives. But look at the differences with the uniform and you will see its not the same. Also when you see the pose I think its pretty obvious its not the same guy.

Regards

90th wrote:

.....Was Russell married ? , If so when ?.
As the chap in the photo appears to be wearing a wedding ring !......

90th, I'm not sure I can see a wedding ring - and as far as I am aware, in Britain male wedding rings were until quite recently all but unknown for the officer class.

There does, indeed, seem to be something on the little finger of the left hand, perhaps a signet ring - though my eyes and the image resolution are not good enough to be sure. A higher-res close-up of the hand would help; but if he's British, and it is a signet ring, that would tend to take the date later again - signet rings went right out of fashion in the late 17th/18th century (fob seals were the thing), and don't seem to have started coming back until the late 1870s & 1880s. If there is a wedding ring on the next finger as well - and I can see a mark that could just about be one - then I don't think he's even a Brit.....possibly, of course, Canadian, though I know nothing of historical North American ring habits.

Hi osmposm.
Very confusing , isnt it . You may indeed be correct , he may not even be British !.
cheers 90th.