Jesse Watts-Russell

{{Short description|English landowner and politician; (1786–1875)}} {{Infobox person | name =  | image =  | caption = | birth_name = Jesse Russell | birth_date = {{Birth date|1786|05|06|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1875|03|26|1786|05|06|df=y}} | death_place = | nationality = | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = Conservative MP for Gatton (1820–1826) | alma_mater = Worcester College, Oxford | children = 9, including Jesse and John }}

'''Jesse Watts-Russell''' (6 May 1786 – 26 March 1875)<ref name="HOPO"/> was a landowner and Conservative MP for the rotten borough of Gatton in Surrey. In the 1800s, he came up with the concept of creating chalet-style houses in the style of a Swiss village; examples of his legacy can be seen in the village of Ilam in Staffordshire.

==Biography== Born '''Jesse Russell''', he was the second son of Jesse Russell Sr. (1743–1820) from Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire,<ref name="BADA"/> who had made his fortune as a soap manufacturer in the East End of London, and Elizabeth née Noble from Yorkshire.<ref name="HOPO"/> He graduated from Worcester College, Oxford, in 1808 with a B.A., followed by an M.A. in 1811, and was awarded a D.C.L. in 1819.<ref name="British Armorial Bindings"/>

He was married three times. His first wife was Mary Watts,<ref name="BADA"/> the daughter of David Pike Watts who was a wealthy wine merchant.<ref name="HOPO"/> The couple married in January 1811 and took on the new family name of Watts-Russell in 1817.<ref name="British Armorial Bindings"/> They had eight children – four sons and four daughters.<ref name="HOPO"/> Their eldest son was Jesse David Watts-Russell, born in 1812, who became Conservative MP for North Staffordshire in 1841.<ref name="HOPO"/> Their youngest son was John Charles Watts-Russell, born in 1825, who emigrated to New Zealand in 1850 where he held a seat on the Legislative Council and became a successful sheep farmer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://my.christchurchcitylibraries.com/wattsrussell/ |title=An Early Settler: John Charles Watts-Russell (1826–75) |date=20 March 2024 |access-date=23 March 2024 |work=Christchurch City Libraries}}</ref>

The Watts-Russell family lived at the Ilam Park estate in the Peak District. The old hall had belonged to Mary's father, David Pike Watts, who died in 1816. The hall passed down to his daughter who was by then married to Jesse. He commissioned James Trubshaw to build a new hall in the Gothic Revival style, to the designs of the architect John Shaw.<ref name="BADA"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA164345 |title=Ilam Hall, Ilam Park |website=National Trust Heritage Records Online |access-date=23 March 2024 |quote=Ilam Hall was rebuilt for Jesse Watts Russell by James Trubshawe in 1821-26 in the Gothic style to the designs of architect John Shaw.}}</ref> The new Ilam Hall (now a Grade II* listed building)<ref>{{NHLE|num=1188713 |desc=Ilam Hall and Gardeners Cottage, Ilam |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> was built between 1821 and 1826.<ref name="HAH"/> [[File:Ilamhall.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Ilam Hall circa 1880. Illustration from Morris's ''County Seats of The Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland''.]] Watts-Russell created the picturesque village of Ilam adjacent to the estate. The valley and surrounding hills reminded him of the Swiss Alps,<ref name="Guardian 20210408"/> and consequently he had some new cottages built in a Swiss chalet style and rehoused most of the villagers. The English architect George Gilbert Scott was commissioned to design the cottages around 1840.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gilbertscott.org/model-estate-village-ilam/ |title=Model Estate Village, Ilam |website=GilbertScott.org |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> In 1857, Watts-Russell built a school in matching style and funded its operation, at a time when schooling was not compulsory.<ref name="Guardian 20210408"/> The village has a conspicuous landmark, the Grade II* listed Mary Watts-Russell Memorial Cross,<ref>{{NHLE|num=1038152 |desc=Mrs Watts-Russell Memorial, Ilam |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> which imitates the Eleanor Crosses and is dedicated to his first wife who died in 1840.<ref name="BADA"/>

He was High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1819<ref>{{cite book|title=Collections for a History of Staffordshire |editor=The William Salt Archaeological Society |year=1912 |location=London |publisher=Harrison and Sons |page=292 |url=https://archive.org/details/collectionsfo1912stafuoft/page/292/mode/2up?view=theater&q=1086 |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> and Conservative MP for the rotten borough of Gatton from 1820 to 1826.<ref name="HOPO"/> He was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1821.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=EC%2F1821%2F24 |title=Russell, Jesse Watts: certificate of election to the Royal Society |website=catalogues.royalsociety.org |access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://personal.utdallas.edu/~m.vidyasagar/images/royal-society/Fellows1660-2007.pdf |title=List of Fellows of the Royal Society, 1660 – 2007 |work=University of Texas at Dallas |page=310 |access-date=24 March 2024}}</ref> He received a large inheritance on his father's death in 1820,<ref name="HOPO"/> and bought the Biggin Hall estate in Benefield, Northamptonshire two years later.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1040213 |desc=Biggin Hall, Benefield |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref> He became a vice-president of the Staffordshire Conservative Association on its foundation in 1835.<ref name="HOPO"/>

Watts-Russell remarried in June 1843; his second wife, Maria Ellen Barker, died giving birth to their only son, Edward, in October 1844.<ref name="British Armorial Bindings"/> His third wife was Martha Leach whom he married in November 1862.<ref name="BADA"/>

==References== {{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="HOPO">{{cite web|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/watts-russell-jesse-1786-1875 |title=Member Biographies: WATTS RUSSELL, Jesse (1786-1875), of Ilam Hall, Staffs |website=History of Parliament Online |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref>

<ref name="BADA">{{cite web|url=https://www.bada.org/object/watts-russell-candelabra-rundell-bridge-rundell-london-1820 |title=The Watts-Russell Candelabra. Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, London 1820 |work=British Antique Dealers' Association |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref>

<ref name="British Armorial Bindings">{{cite web|url=https://armorial.library.utoronto.ca/stamp-owners/WAT010 |title=Watts-Russell, Jesse (1786–1875) |website=armorial.library.utoronto.ca |publisher=University of Toronto |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref>

<ref name="HAH">{{cite web|url=https://houseandheritage.org/2016/05/11/ilam-hall/ |title=Lost Houses, Staffordshire: Ilam Hall |date=11 May 2016 |website=houseandheritage.org |access-date=23 March 2024}}</ref>

<ref name="Guardian 20210408">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/apr/08/10-of-britains-most-eccentric-villages-chosen-by-readers |title=10 of Britain's most eccentric villages: chosen by readers |date=8 April 2021 |work=The Guardian |access-date=22 March 2024}}</ref>

}}

==External links== * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-jesse-watts-russell | Jesse Watts-Russell }}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef | before = Abel Rous Dottin | before2 = John Fleming }} {{s-title | title = Member of Parliament for Gatton | years = 1820 – 1826 | with = Thomas Divett }} {{s-aft | after = William Scott | after2 = Michael George Prendergast }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts-Russell, Jesse}} Category:1786 births Category:1875 deaths Category:19th-century British landowners Category:UK MPs 1820–1826 Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Category:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Category:British fellows of the Royal Society Category:High sheriffs of Staffordshire