The Township of Russell is a municipal township, located south-east of Canada's capital of Ottawa in eastern Ontario, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, on the Castor River.
The township had a population of 16,520 in the 2016 Canadian Census.
Communities
The primary communities are Embrun and Russell. The township administrative offices are located in Embrun.
Smaller communities listed in the official Ontario place names database are Felton, Forget, Marionville, North Russell and Pana. Both the municipal government and Canada Post consider Brisson and Forget to be part of Embrun, and Felton, North Russell, and Pana as part of Russell. Canada Post also considers Marionville to be part of Russell, although the municipality considers Marionville to be separate. As Marionville is on the border of the township, parts of it fall into the neighbouring jurisdictions of North Dundas Township and the City of Ottawa.
History
The Township of Russell, Ontario was named in honour of Peter Russell who came to Canada with John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. Russell was a general accountant of the public funds of the new province. He was elected a member of the executive and legislative council in 1792 and when Simcoe returned to England in 1796, he appointed Russell as administrator of the existing government, a position he held until Simcoe's successor arrived in Canada in 1799. Russell remained in Canada, dying in York (Toronto) in 1808. At one time the township was named Elmsley, it was officially named Russell in 1797.
1791: The Parliament of Upper Canada (Ontario) divided the territory into four districts. 1792: The four districts were divided into 19 counties. The territory that is now known as the Township of Russell, was in Stormont County. January 1, 1800: the subdivision of Stormont County created the County of Russell, which included the Townships of Clarence, Cambridge, Cumberland, Gloucester, Osgoode and Russell. 1838: the Townships of Gloucester and Osgoode are annexed to the Carleton County. 1841: a municipal law inaugurated the councils of the districts composed of representatives from the townships. January 1, 1850: under the Municipal Corporation Act (also known as the Baldwin Act) adopted in 1849, the districts councils were abolished and replaced by the township councils which become the only recognized administrative units. Thus townships and municipalities are born that they delegated representatives to the Counties Councils. When the number of male owners was less than 100, a township must unite to another to send a representative to the Counties. This is the case of the four townships in Russell County (Cambridge, Clarence, Cumberland and Russell) before December 28, 1850. With the increase in population, each township eventually delegated its own representative. Thus we witness the creation of the municipalities of Cumberland in 1850, Clarence and Cambridge in 1854 and Russell January 1, 1857. 2022: the town announces that, due to Peter Russell having been a practitioner of slavery, the town would no longer be named for him, and would instead be named for "all people named Russell who have had a positive impact".
The Great Fire in Russell
On June 6, 1915, fire started in Murray's Tinsmith Shop and quickly spread from building to building in Russell. Many residents tried to put out the fire with buckets of water, but it was evident they needed more help. Calls were made to the Ottawa Fire Department who came running faster than ever on the New York Central Railroad. They say it was the fastest a train ever went on that track. A total of twenty-five buildings were destroyed. The old land registry building lost its roof in the fire but all the records were saved. The oldest records of the building go back to 1852. The building is still standing today.
