George Warren Russell
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The Honourable George Warren Russell |
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| 4th Minister of Public Health | |
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In office 28 March 1912 – 10 July 1912 |
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| Prime Minister | Thomas Mackenzie |
| Preceded by | David Buddo |
| Succeeded by | Heaton Rhodes |
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In office 12 August 1915 – 25 August 1919 |
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| Prime Minister | William Massey |
| Preceded by | Heaton Rhodes |
| Succeeded by | Francis Bell |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Riccarton |
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In office 1893 – 1896 |
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| Succeeded by | William Rolleston |
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In office 1899 – 1902 |
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| Preceded by | William Rolleston |
| Succeeded by | George Witty |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Avon |
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In office 1908 – 1919 |
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| Preceded by | William Tanner |
| Succeeded by | Dan Sullivan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
24 February 1854 London, England |
| Died | 28 June 1937 (aged 83) Eastbourne, New Zealand |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Other political affiliations |
Radical Party |
George Warren Russell (24 February 1854 – 28 June 1937) was a New Zealand politician from Christchurch. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Public Health in the wartime National government, and was responsible for the New Zealand government's response to the 1918 influenza epidemic.
Russell was born in London, England, in 1854. His father was a bricklayer and builder. The family emigrated to Tasmania when he was still a child, and then moved again to New Zealand in 1864. Russell worked as an apprentice journalist, before trying to become a Wesleyan Methodist minister. When that was unsuccessful, he returned to journalism, working on the Evening Chronicle in Wellington and founding the Manawatu Herald in Foxton. He moved to Christchurch in 1889. In 1898, he took over the Spectator, a magazine he would edit until 1928.
Russell contested the 1881 election in the Foxton electorate, where he was third of six candidates, beaten by James Wilson. He unsuccessfully contested the Waikato electorate in the 1887 election; he was beaten by John Blair Whyte.
He first entered Parliament as MHR for Riccarton in 1893. A member of the Liberal Party's "left" (radical) wing, he was a strong critic of Premier Richard Seddon, and at the 1896 election attempted to form a Radical Party to push for stronger reforms. He maintained only a tenuous hold on his electorate, losing it in 1896 to William Rolleston, but regaining it in 1899 with a majority of one vote over Rolleston, which brought an end to that political career. Russell lost the Riccarton electorate again in 1902. In 1908, he won the Avon electorate, and held it for the next 11 years.
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