Anne Russell fonds
Finding Aid
Anne Russell fonds. 1st accrual. – 1956-1965. – 8 cm textual records.
Series 1: School records. – 1956-1963. – 3 cm textual records.
Series 2: Artwork. – n.d. – 1 sketchbook; 16 paintings; 24 pencil sketches.
Series 3: Ephemera. – ca. 1959-1965. – 8 pp.
Series groupings and file arrangement were supplied by the processing archivist.
Series 1
School records. – 1956-1963. – 3 cm textual records.
Series consists predominantly of Anne Russell’s school and music notebooks, particularly from her time at Moreton Hall, then an all-girls boarding school in North Shropshire near Oswestry.
Anne’s primary school years were completed at Kingsmuir School, a boarding school in Sussex. She likely began attending Kingsmuir in 1950, when she and her family moved to Bertrand Russell’s home in Richmond. In 1956, when Bertrand and Edith Russell moved themselves and John Russell’s children to Wales, Anne began attending Moreton Hall. Ray Monk notes that Anne left Moreton Hall in 1962, along with her sisters (Bertrand Russell: The Ghost of Madness, 485). Anne likely attended Dartington Hall, a co-educational boarding school in Dartington, after Moreton Hall, though no written evidence of her studies at this institution is extant in this archive.
Anne’s Moreton Hall notebooks are a standard size (16.5 x 20.5 cm); most are dedicated to specific subjects. Staples have been removed from all notebooks due to rust. This series also contains evidence of Anne’s studies in pianoforte, including composition and exam books.
Files have been arranged in chronological order based on start date.
Box 1
F.1 [The Moretonian newsletter, no. 22]. – 1956-1957. – 1 cm textual records.
F.2 [Royal Schools of Music pianoforte exam books]. – 1957; 1958; 1959. – 1 cm textual records.
F.3 [Manuscript music notebooks]. – ca. 1957-1959. – 1 cm textual records.
F.4 [Assorted sheet music]. – ca. 1957-1960. – 1 cm textual records.
F.5 [Moreton Hall—Form VA (Upper Fifth?) Chaucer notebook]. – ca. 1960-1962. – 1 cm textual records.
F.6 [Moreton Hall—Upper Fifth form History notebook]. – ca. 1960-1962. – 1 cm textual records.
F.7 [Draft of (student?) play “The Bridge Between”, with annotations from Lucy and Sarah Russell]. – March 1963. – 1 cm textual records.
Series 2
Artwork. – n.d. – 1 sketchbook; 16 paintings; 24 pencil sketches.
Series comprises pencil sketches and paintings (oil pastel and tempera), all unsigned and undated. It is possible these artworks may have been created by one of Anne’s sisters (Lucy or Sarah), but artwork in this series was originally stored in Anne Russell’s monogrammed school bag and has thus been assigned to Anne Russell’s archive by the processing archivist.
Where page numbers are indicated for file extents, a “page” refers to one side of a leaf. Files have been determined based on format.
Box 1 [cont.]
F.8 [Notebook of oil pastel paintings, unsigned]. – n.d. – 1 book: 23 x 15 cm.
F.9 [Loose oil pastel paintings, unsigned]. – n.d. – 12 paintings: 23 x 15 cm each.
F.10 [Various pencil sketches—graphite on paper, unsigned]. – n.d. – 24 pp.: various sizes.
F.11 [Loose tempera (?) paintings, unsigned]. – n.d. – 4 paintings: various sizes.
Series 3
Ephemera. – ca. 1959-1965. – 8 pp.
Series comprises notes created and signed by Anne Russell and a prayer gift card given to her. Where page numbers are indicated for file extents, a “page” refers to one side of a leaf.
Box 1 [cont.]
F.12 [Notes, possibly a poem draft signed by Anne Russell; prayer card gifted in February 1959]. – ca. 1959-1965. – 8 pp.
