ellen pauline mallandaine + mark russell
Ellen was born in Nassau, Bahamas on 17 February 1870 to Isaac Mallandaine and Caroline Keane. Her father was serving in the Army Hospital Corps as a Hospital Steward at the time and the family spent just over three years in the Caribbean. After returning to England, Ellen’s family lived on the Isle of Wight and Kent before moving to the north-west and settling in Salford near Manchester.
Ellen married Mark Russell at St Bartholomew in Salford on 22 November 1890. He was born in St Pancras, London in 1864 to Henry Russell, a Bricklayer, and Mercy Lepper. Mark was working as a Porter at the time and both he and Ellen were living at 20 Oxford Street near Ordsall Park in Salford. After their marriage, they remained in the family home, renting one room, and Mark began working as a Policeman.
Their first child, Caroline Ellen, was born in Miles Platting, north east of Manchester, on 5 September 1891 and baptised on 18 October. In the fall of 1893, James was born in the Broughton area of Salford and baptised at St Bartholomew’s Church on 14 Jan 1894 followed by Charles who was born on 1 September 1895 and baptised on 3 November. Gertrude Gladys was born in Broughton on 11 November 1897 and baptised on 26 Dec 1897 and finally, Victor was born on 29 June 1900.
In 1901, the family was renting 4 rooms at 45 Doddington Street not far from their home on Oxford Street and Ellen’s mother lived next door at number 43 with her husband, James Holden, and Ellen’s younger sister Gertrude. Two years later, Mark appears in the Slater’s Directory at 45 Doddington Street as a Police Constable and James Holden next door as a Musician.
On 24 June 1901, Mark was found to be drunk at work and as punishment, his rank was reduced by 5 classes. He maintained a clean record over the next few years and on 15 February 1905, he was advanced from Class 4 to Class 3 in recognition of his good conduct but later that year, on 24 November, he was found to be drunk on duty once again. His service record notes that he was due to finish his shift at the Albert Street Station at 2pm but for some reason returned several hours later in a drunken state. When questioned by the Inspector on duty, he denied being drunk and told the Inspector that he had been making enquiries regarding destitute children and had been home to change from his uniform to plain clothes. The Superintendent was called and he sent Mark home accompanied by two plain clothes officers; on 29 November, Mark was called to appear in front of the Chief Constable and admitted the charge of drunkeness but in his defense, he claimed that he was given a bottle of what he was told was ‘champagne cider’ but it was in fact champagne and the effect of the alcohol took effect immediately. His defense was not accepted and he was forced to resign.
Mark petitioned the Chairman of the Watch Committee at the Town Hall and asked to be reinstated:
I most respectfully beg to make application for re-instatement, in the Manchester City Police, having been called upon by the Chief Constable to resign forthwith on Wednesday 29th Nov 1905 for being under the influence of drink on Friday 24th Nov 1905 which I very much regret and most earnestly ask you to give me one more chance for the sake of my wife and seven children.
Trusting you will give my application your kindest consideration,
I am Sir yours most obediently,
Mark Russell
His request was refused and a few days later he wrote directly to the Chief Constable asking if ‘the deductions paid by me during my police service might be returned to me through my being allowed to resign’. It is not clear what these deductions were but his request was approved and the ‘rateable deductions’ were refunded. Based on the address on the letter, the family was living at 30 Lorn Street, Chester Road in Hulme.
Florence was born on 7 June 1907 and when she was baptised at the Stowell Memorial Church on 17 July, the family was living at 5 Elizabeth Street and Mark was now working as a Musician. Mark Russell died of Tuberculosis at the family home on 24 August aged only 43 years; the occupation on his death certificate was listed as Electric Car Cleaner.
By 1911, Ellen and her six children had moved to 5 Trafford Street, just west of Doddington Street, and to support her family, she was working for the borough council as a Caretaker at an elementary school. Her three eldest children were also working and contributing to the household: Caroline was a Bookbinder, James worked at a Calico Printer’s and Charles was a Plumber’s Apprentice.
Two years later, on 10 May, Ellen remarried to John Starnforth Whiteside at St Bartholomew in Salford and her sister Alessandria was one of the witnesses. John was born in Salford on 7 April 1884 to John Whiteside and Ellen Jones; his father was a Blacksmith and John followed him into the trade. John was still working with his father and living in the family home at 241 Whit Lane in Pendleton in 1911 but when he married his address was 14 Trafford Street.
On 29 May, Ellen’s son James enlisted in the Lancashire Fusiliers at Salford and he was described as being 5’2” tall and weighing 102 lbs. He trained in Southport but he also attended School of Musketry in Aldershot, Hampshire from 30 May to 10 June 1916 where he qualified ‘2nd class’ in a Sniper’s course at Aldershot. He was posted to the 2nd/5th Batallion of the Lancashire Fusiliers as a Lance Corporal and served with the British Expeditionary Force in France from 22 December 1916. Tragically, he was killed in action on 31 July 1917 in the Battle of Passchendaele, also knows as the Third Battle of Ypres. James died on the first day of a battle that would rage on for almost four months and resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides. He was posthumously granted the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
James was declared missing following the battle but it is not known if his body was ever recovered. Many of those who died were never found, their burial site was never recorded or individually marked and in some cases where the site is known, it became inaccessible. As a result, those who died at Passchendaele are commemorated as a group at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, now known as Ieper, in Belgium. The memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town on the road to Menen and Kortrijk and even today, the traffic is stopped at the Menin Gate every night at 8 pm while members of the local Fire Brigade sound the Last Post in the roadway under the memorial’s arches.
Their eldest daughter Caroline Ellen married Joseph Adshead, a soldier, on 26 May 1915, at St Luke, in Weast and James Russell was one of the witnesses along with Susannah Barker. When they married, Caroline was living at 465 Eccles New Road with her family. Joseph was born in Salford on 8 August 1894 to Thomas Adshead, a Butcher, and his wife Emma Elizabeth Hollingworth. He was working as a Warehouseman when he enlisted in the Royal Air Force on 7 September 1914 and he was described as being 5’6” tall with light brown hair and blue eyes. He served for the duration of the war and was transferred to the RAF reserves on 8 April 1919; his address on discharge was given as 1 Dickens Street in Weaste. Caroline and Joseph went on to have two sons. She died in Blackpool in 1951 and Joseph ten years later.
In 1918, Gertrude married Percival Edmund Dolman in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Percy was born in Willington, Derbyshire on 7 July 1894 but his family lived in Alrewas, Staffordshire as late as 1911. Gertrude and Percy had thirteen children and all but two, twins Albert and Robert, survived to adulthood. In 1939, they were living at 114 Curborough Road in Lichfield and Percy was working as a Bricklayer. Percy died in Lichfield in 1964 and six years later, Gertrude remarried to Herbert Pettit. Herbert died in Lichfield in 1976 and Gertrude in 1994.
On 20 September 1919, Charles Russell married Hannah Williams at St George in Hulme, now part of Greater Manchester. He was living at 50 Wenlock Street and serving as a Private in the Light Infantry regiment in the Royal Army when he married. Hannah was the daughter of Thomas Williams, a Mechanic, and she was working as a Weaver at the time. Charles and Hannah had five children and by 1939, they had moved to Blackpool and were living at 26 Laurel Avenue where Charles worked as a Postman. Charles died in Blackpool in 1945 and Hannah in 1984.
In the fall of 1929, Florence married John Hill in the Fylde Registration District and they had three children. In 1939, they were living at 105 Claremont Road in Blackpool and John was working as a Motor Driver Salesman. Florence died in Blackpool in 1994 and John in 2000.
In 1938, Victor married Gertrude Sheard in Salford and they went on to have five children. The following year they were living with his mother Ellen and stepfather John at 72 Bela Grove in Blackpool. Victor, like his brother Charles, was working as a Postman and his wife as a Confectioner. Gertrude died aged only 45 years in 1960 and Victor in 1973.
Ellen Pauline died in Blackpool in 1947, aged 77 years, followed by her second husband John in 1948.