Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
James and William Russell fonds
General material designation
- Textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
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1821-1922 (Creation)
Physical description area
Physical description
40 cm of textual records and other material
Publisher's series area
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Archival description area
Custodial history
As implied by the corporate name, James and William Russell was a firm owned and operated by a pair of siblings, the sons of Wm. Russell Sr., a wheelwright from Pine Grove in Vaughan Township. The Russells' business specialized in the breeding and sale of Short Horn cattle; although the evidence suggests a brief flirtation with sheep-breeding, cattle were the mainstay of the enterprise. While the business was located in Richmond Hill, Wm. Russell was a resident of the hamlet of Carrville in Vaughan Township, and James Russell lived in Markham Township. The firm proved quite successful, with sales of cattle recorded as far afield as the Canadian and American West, and a number of national and international cattle-breeding awards being earned.
Scope and content
Fonds consists primarily of textual records offering comprehensive coverage of the business dealings of the Russells: correspondence, legal documents including estate records, indentures, agreements, leases, wills, etc., financial records, fragments of flock and herd registers, and printed matter. Some of the aforementioned textual material relates to Wm. Russell Sr.; of particular value here are real property tax assessment certificates, which comment on various aspects of the life of the elder Russell. The fonds also includes 2 postcards, one unidentified and one of the Richmond Hill Methodist Church; and two photographs depicting, presumably, the Russells, [ca. 1880]. Also present are 3 architectural renderings, floor plans, elevations, mouldings and casements, of an unidentified residential structure, [ca. 1880]. A variety of richly-ornamented diplomas, certificates, and ribbons and Stevensgraphs reflecting victories by James and William Russell cattle at contests sponsored by the West Riding of York and Township of Vaughan Agricultural Societies, the Woodbridge Agricultural Society, the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, the Dominion of Canada Industrial Exhibition, and the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, covering the period 1874-1900 provide ample and colourful evidence of the skill of the Russell brothers in their particular sub-field of agricultural science.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
- Bay 5, Sh. 19
- Bay 18, Sh. 5 (O/S);
- Map 27
Availability of other formats
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Finding aids
No finding aid available
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Accruals
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Standard number
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Status
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Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Language of description
- English