Flora Magdalen Isabel Russell (28 September 186923 August 1967) was an English noblewoman, childhood friend of

Gertrude Bell Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highly ...

Biography

Flora Magdalen Isabel Russell was born on 28 September 1869, the daughter of

Lord Arthur Russell Lord Arthur John Edward Russell (13 June 1825 – 4 April 1892) was a British Liberal Party politician. He was born in London on 13 June 1825. He was the second of three sons of Major-General Lord George William Russell and Elizabeth Anne Rawd ...

and Lady Laura de Peyronnet, daughter of Paul Louis Jules, Vicomte de Peyronnet. Her siblings were: Harold John Hastings Russell; Sir Claud Frederick William Russell; Caroline Diana Rosalind Russell; Maj Gilbert Byng Alwyne Russell; and Conrad George Edward Russell. She was the niece of the 9th Duke of Bedford. Harold John Hastings Russell's daughter, Elizabeth Russell married

Richard Plunket Greene Richard George Hubert Plunket Greene (1 July 1901 – 25 March 1978) was an English racing motorist, a jazz musician and author. Biography Richard George Hubert Plunket Greene was born on 1 July 1901, the son of Harry Plunket Greene, an Irish bar ...

and their son, Alexander Plunket Greene, who married

Mary Quant Dame Barbara Mary Quant, Mrs Plunket Greene, (born 11 February 1930)The Mary Quant exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019-20 stated her year of birth as 1930, and that she became a student at Goldsmiths College around 1950. is a ...

, was Flora Russell's favourite grandnephew. The Russells at the time of Flora's youth were the envy of London. They lived at 2 Audley Square, Mayfair, and their house were frequented by well-known figures like

Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen (28 November 1832 – 22 February 1904) was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Life Sir Leslie Stephen came from a distinguished intellectua ...

and his daughters,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...

;

Mrs Humphry Ward Mary Augusta Ward (''née'' Arnold; 11 June 1851 – 24 March 1920) was a British novelist who wrote under her married name as Mrs Humphry Ward. She worked to improve education for the poor and she became the founding President of the Women' ...

;

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

and

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

;

Vera Brittain Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir ''Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the First ...

. She was briefly engaged to George Stephen, older stepbrother of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

. Hearing the news, Woolf sent a congratulations telegram: "She is an angel" and signed with her family nickname "Goat". The telegram delivered was "She is an aged Goat" George Stephen later commented that he thought Woolf was referring to Flora Russell's reluctance to ally herself with the Stephen family. Woolf denied and said the mistake was due to her handwriting. At the end George Stephen married Lady Margaret Herbert. She was a watercolour painter and her portrait of

(1868-1926), traveller, spy and archaeologist, is at the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

. Bell was a childhood friend and Russell and Bell, together with Russell's sister, Diana, worked together at the W&MED office in France. The W&MED, founded by

Lord Robert Cecil Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, (14 September 1864 – 24 November 1958), known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923,As the younger son of a Marquess, Cecil held the courtesy title of "Lord". However, he ...

, was offering tracking services for the men involved in the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

: killed soldiers whose name wasn't yet official; wounded soldiers in hospital unable to communicate with home; and prisoners. Flora and Diana would take turns so that at least one of them was always in the office. Caroline Diana Rosalind Russell (2 January 1874 – 31 October 1971) was appointed Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(M.B.E.) in 1918.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003 Having many relatives in the diplomatic corps around the world, while she was travelling she was a guest of the British embassies instead of lodging at hotels. In 1921 Flora Russell sold for £22,500 (£ in sterling) the townhouse at 2 Audley Square she had inherited from her father to the

University Women's Club The University Women's Club, originally the University Club for Ladies, is a British private members club founded in 1883. As the popular gentlemen's clubs did not accept any women as members, its creation was intended to provide an equivalent c ...

, which is still housed there. In 1928 she moved to the country, and built "South Down". The house was later bought by her great-nephew, Alexander Plunket Greene, the husband of

. In 1965 Gimson and Eustace recorded Flora Russell, at the time 96 years old, whose speech they regard as a "good example of a certain kind of Victorian English". Flora Russell died on 23 August 1967, Diana Russell on 31 October 1971, both sisters at 97 years old, unmarried.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Flora 1869 births 1967 deaths 19th-century English women 19th-century English people 20th-century English women 20th-century English people British women in World War I English socialites English watercolourists

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

Women watercolorists