Schoolmaster, the son of the Rev. George Russell (c.1779-1834; e.m. 1802). He was a pupil at Kingswood School from 1817 to 1822 and graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. He became the principal of an academy at Mackworth, north of Derby, to which many prosperous Methodists in that area sent their sons. His pupils included four future missionaries to China and a number of future ministers, including Dr. Gervase Smith.