Flora Russell

Flora Magdalen Isabel Russell (28 September 186923 August 1967) was an English noblewoman, childhood friend of Gertrude Bell. Biography Flora Magdalen Isabel Russell was born on 28 September 1869, the daughter of Lord Arthur Russell and Lady Laura de Peyronnet, daughter of Paul Louis Jules, Vicomte de Peyronnet. Her siblings were: Harold John Hastings Russell; Sir Claud Frederick William Russell; Caroline Diana Rosalind Russell; Maj Gilbert Byng Alwyne Russell; and Conrad George Edward Russell. She was the niece of the 9th Duke of Bedford. Harold John Hastings Russell's daughter, Elizabeth Russell married Richard Plunket Greene and their son, Alexander Plunket Greene, who married Mary Quant, was Flora Russell's favourite grandnephew. The Russells at the time of Flora's youth were the envy of London. They lived at 2 Audley Square, Mayfair, and their house were frequented by well-known figures like Leslie Stephen and his daughters, Virginia and Vanessa; Mrs Humphry Ward; Henry James and John Singer Sargent; Vera Brittain. She was briefly engaged to George Stephen, older stepbrother of Virginia Woolf. Hearing the news, Woolf sent a congratulations telegram: "She is an angel" and signed with her family nickname "Goat". The telegram delivered was "She is an aged Goat" George Stephen later commented that he thought Woolf was referring to Flora Russell's reluctance to ally herself with the Stephen family. Woolf denied and said the mistake was due to her handwriting. At the end George Stephen married Lady Margaret Herbert.