Russell, Charles William, Dd

Russell, Charles William, D.D.

a Roman Catholic divine, was born at Killough, County Down, Ireland, May 14, 1812. He was educated at Drogheda, at Downpatrick, and at Maynooth College; was elected to the Dunboyne Establishment in 1832, for ten years discharged his duties as professor at Maynooth, and in 1845, when the chair of ecclesiastical history was established, he was appointed thereto. He held this position until the death of Dr. Renehan in 1857, when he became president of the college, which office he filled until his death, on February 26, 1880. Dr. Russell was a regular contributor to the Dublin Review and Edinburgh Review. He published translations of the Tales of Canon von Schmid and Leibnitz's System of Theology. His Life of Cardinal Mezzofanti (1858) had its origin in an article on that wonderful linguist in the Edinburgh Review of 1855, and included notices of the most celebrated linguists of all countries. It was translated into Italian and published at Bologna in 1859. A second edition appeared in 1863. In 1869 Dr. Russell was appointed a member of the royal commission on historical manuscripts, and from 1872 he edited, in conjunction with Mr. Prendergast, several volumes of the Calendars of State Papers relating to Ireland, beginning with the reign of James I. Dr. Russell contributed also to the eighth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, North British Review, the English Cyclopaedia, the Academy, and several other publications. See (N.Y.) Catholic Almanac, 1881, page 106.