Russell Scott (merchant)
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Russell Scott | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1801 |
| Died | 1880 (aged 78–79) |
| Occupation | Businessperson |
| Known for | Philanthropist and newspaper proprietor |
| Spouse |
Isabella Civil Prestwich
(m. 1832) |
| Children | 9 |
| Father | Russell Scott (minister) |
Russell Scott (1801–1880)[1] was an English coal merchant, philanthropist and newspaper proprietor.
The son of Russell Scott, a Unitarian minister at Portsmouth and younger brother of Mary Scott,[2] he was baptised by Theophilus Lindsey at the house of his maternal grandfather William Hawes.[3][4]
Scott in 1818 went to work on the accountancy side of William Cory & Co., a firm in which his parents had invested through the Hawes family connection.[5] In 1822, through a change in a partnership involving Hawes family members, Scott became a partner with William Cory in the coal merchants Cory & Scott, of New Barge House Wharf, Lambeth.[6] In the early 1830s Cory & Scott had 23 barges and 5% of the seacoal trade that brought coal from the Northumberland Coalfield along the coast to London.[7] In 1838 the partnership was dissolved.[8]
Scott was bought out by Cory, and turned to philanthropy. He invested much of his capital in railways.[9]
The company continued as Wm. Cory & Son, coal importers and shipowners, incorporated in 1896, and was a precursor of the Cory company.[10][11]
The Manchester Guardian
In 1824, Scott's sister Sophia Russell Scott married John Edward Taylor, founding editor of the Manchester Guardian; this was a first-cousin marriage, Taylor's mother being Russell Scott's sister Mary.[12] Russell Scott became a close friend of Taylor, and invested money in the Manchester Guardian.[13] In 1825 Taylor bought the Manchester Mercury and another newspaper, and Ayerst believes he was able to do that with a loan from Scott.[14]
Taylor died in 1844, and under the terms of his will Russell Scott became proprietor of the Manchester Guardian, until the two sons Russell Scott Taylor and John Edward Taylor II came of age: when each turned 22 they were to be offered a half-share in the newspaper.[15] Russell Scott Taylor died about the time when he came of age, leaving John Edward Taylor II (1830–1905) to take control. Russell Scott was one of the group financing a loan to allow the drop in price from tuppence to one penny in 1857, a successful business move.[16][17]
When Taylor was looking to step down as editor of the Manchester Guardian around 1870, he chose C. P. Scott, Scott's youngest son, an Oxford graduate in 1869.[16]