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Jack Russell (priest)

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The Reverend
John "Jack" Russell
Russel dressed in his hunting clothes
Russell dressed in his hunting clothes, c.1883
Born(1795-12-21)21 December 1795[1]
Dartmouth, Devon, England
Died28 April 1883(1883-04-28) (aged 87)
Black Torrington, Devon, England
Resting placeSwimbridge, Devon, England
Other namesThe Sporting Parson
Alma materExeter College, Oxford
Known forDog breeder

John "Jack" Russell (21 December 1795 – 28 April 1883), was an English parson, enthusiastic follower of country sports - particularly fox hunting - and dog breeder,[2] and known as "The Sporting Parson".[3][4][5][6][7]

Russell developed the Jack Russell Terrier and the Parson Russell Terrier, both of which are a variety of the Fox Terrier breed.[8]

Early life

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Russell was born on 21 December 1795 in Dartmouth, South Devon, the eldest son of John Russell and Nora Jewell.[9] He lived at Sandhill House.

He was educated at Plympton Grammar School and at Blundell's School, Tiverton.[10] Whilst at Blundell's he formed a scratch hunting pack of hounds, but this was seen as a serious infraction by the headmaster.[11]

Following school, he attended Exeter College, Oxford, and hunted with the Heythrop Hunt and the Bicester Hunt.[11]

Sporting career

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According to local legend, it was at Exeter College where he spotted a little white terrier with dark tan spots over her eyes, ears and at the tip of her tail, who was owned by a local milkman in a nearby small hamlet, identified as either Elsfield[12] or Marston.[13][14] Russell bought the dog on the spot and this animal, called "Trump", became the foundation of a line of fox hunting terriers that became known as Jack Russell Terriers. They were well-suited by the shortness and strength of their legs for digging out foxes which had "gone to earth" having been hunted over-ground by fox hounds.

Russell was a founding member of The Kennel Club.[15] He helped to write the breed standard for the Fox Terrier (Smooth) and became a respected judge. He did not show his own fox terriers on the conformation bench, saying that the difference between his dogs and the conformation dogs could be likened to the difference between wild and cultivated flowers.

He became a Master of Otter Hounds, and this is noted by George Templer of Stover, Master of the South Devon Foxhounds in a poem "A Party at Stover in 1823".[1] Russell hunted regularly with the South Devon Hunt, despite living over 30 miles from the kennels.[1] In 1828, he received a draft of six and a half couple (13) hounds from the Vine Hunt (now the Vine and Craven Hunt) and he became a Master of Foxhounds, maintaining his own pack until 1871.[1] When Russell retired his hounds, his country was split between three packs - the Eggesford Hunt, the Torrington Farmer's Hunt, and Lord Poltimore's pack.[1]

In 1823, Jack was a founder member of the Teignbridge Cricket Club, along with friend George Templer.[1]

Clerical career

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Russell was ordained as a deacon in 1819 and started as curate at South Molton, and became a priest in 1820. After six years he moved to Iddesleigh which was his father's old parish.[11]

In 1832, Russell was appointed a permanent curacy of Swymbridge-cum-Traveller's Rest (now Swimbridge) on the edge of Exmoor in North Devon.[11] At Swimbridge, Russell enjoyed a hectic social life, with formal dining, charity fundraising, and active participation as a Freemason.[16] The local public house was renamed the "Jack Russell Inn" and still stands today.

Russell stayed at Swimbridge for nearly 50 years before accepting the rectory at Black Torrington,[17] at the urging of Lord Poltimore.[11] The noted Historian WG Hoskins described Russell as "futile" [18][clarification needed]

Marriage

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In 1826, at Swimbridge he married Penelope Incledon-Bury,[1] third daughter and co-heiress of Vice-Admiral Richard Incledon-Bury (1757-1825), Royal Navy, lord of the manor of Colleton, Chulmleigh in Devon,[19] who resided at Dennington, Swimbridge, and was also a keen fox hunter.[11]

On 29 May 1827, a year and a day after they were married, the couple had a child, named John Bury, who died soon after and was buried on 31 May.[1] Their second child was born on 23 August 1828, and called Richard Bury.[1]

Russell is said to have had expensive sporting habits both on and off the hunting-field, which drained the substantial resources of his heiress wife and left the estate of Colleton in poor condition.[20]

Penelope died on the eve on their fiftieth wedding anniversary, in 1876.[11]

Death and burial

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Russell died on 28 April 1883 at Black Torrington Receptory, and was buried in the churchyard of St. James's Church, Swimbridge, where he had served as vicar for nearly 50 years.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Davies, Edward William Lewis (1883). The out-of-door life of the Rev. John Russell, a memoir. London: R Bentley.
  2. ^ "The Parson Russell Terrier Club, UK - Introduction to the breed". Parsonrussellterrierclub.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  3. ^ "The Rev. John Russell". Birmingham Mail. 30 April 1883.
  4. ^ May, G Lacey (July 1937). "The Sporting Parson of the Eighteenth Century". Theology. 35 (205).
  5. ^ Middleton, I (23 September 2004). Russell, John [Jack]. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ Menzies, Stuart (Mrs) (1919). Sportmen parson in peace and war. London: Huchinson.
  7. ^ "Sporting Parsons". Country Life Illustrated. 6 (156): 856. 30 December 1899.
  8. ^ "A Field Guide to the English Clergy' Butler-Gallie, F p90: London, Oneworld Publications, 2018 ISBN 9781786074416
  9. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Russell, John (1795-1883)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 49. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 464.
  10. ^ "Famous OBs". blundells.org. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g "Death of the Rev. John Russell". Alnwick Mercury. 5 May 1883.
  12. ^ Davies, Norman (1 January 1996). Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 343. ISBN 978-0-19-820171-7.
  13. ^ "From the civil war to Jack Russell breed by Chris Koenig, Oxford Times 25 January 2007". Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  14. ^ "A brief history of the Jack Russell - Jack Russell Terrier UK". Jack-russell-terrier.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  15. ^ "Plentiful Run Parson Russell Terriers - About Us". Dogwebs.net. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  16. ^ Hörter, Ria (2012). "Parson John (Jack) Russell and the Jack Russell Terrier". The Canine Chronicle. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  17. ^ Vivian, p.499
  18. ^ Devon by W.G.Hoskins. Pub. David & Charles : Newton Abbot. 1978.Page 100.
  19. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.499, pedigree of Incledon
  20. ^ Lauder, Rosemary Anne, A Tale of Two Rivers, Bideford, 1986, p.72
  21. ^ "History of Swimbridge Parish Church of St. James". swimbridgeparishchurch.org. Retrieved 4 December 2013.

Further reading

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  • Parson Jack Russell: The Hunting Legend 1795-1883 by Charles Noon, Halsgrove Publishers.
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • Baker, Margaret Mitford. Jack Russell, hunting parson of old Devon. Devon Life vol. 7 no. 56 (1971) pp. 37. [1796-1833]
  • Davies, E.W.L. A memoir of the Rev. John Russell and his out-of-door life. (New ed.) London: Richard Bentley & Son, (1883), portrait, xii, 397 pp. [Index]
  • Kerr, Eleanor. Hunting parson: the life and times of the Reverend John Russell. London: Herbert Jenkins (1963) 192p, plates: ill.
  • Lamplugh, Lois. Parson Jack Russell of Swimbridge. Swimbridge: Wellspring (1994) [ii], 27p: ill, ports [ISBN 0951534734]
  • Noon, C. Parson Jack Russell: The Hunting Legend 1995–1883, Halsgrove Press, Tiverton (2000) 144 pp. [ISBN 1841140503]
  • Pepper, Frank S. Parson Jack Russell. Swimbridge: Church Council (1981) 8p. [Westcountry Studies Library - p920/RUS]
  • Lifetime Passion for All Forms of Hunting: The Sporting Parson The Reverend John Russell. Devon Family Historian 84 (1997) pp. 2–3. [The Hunting Parson who bred the Jack Russell terrier]
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