Richard Reynolds Rowe was born on 5 June 1824. His parents, who lived at 1 Brunswick Terrace (off Maids’ Causeway), were Richard Rowe, a keeper at the University Library and Alderman of Cambridge Borough and Sarah Rowe (née Reynolds).
Little is known of his schooling, or of his training as an engineer and architect. He became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1854 (later a Fellow), and a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1855. He was appointed Engineer to the Cambridge Improvement Commissioners in 1850, holding this position to 1869. He was also Surveyor of Bridges and Public Works in the Isle of Ely from 1852. In these capacities he was responsible for overseeing a wide range of projects within the borough and county. He produced a trigonometric survey map of Cambridge, dated 1858 (Cambridgeshire Archives CB/4/19/1/19), showing the streets with building frontages, coloured to show different types of buildings. The map was reprinted in 1872.
As an architect in his own right from 1850, he designed the vestry of Christ Church, Newmarket Road (1863), St Matthew’s Church, Petersfield (1866), the iron-and-timber church hall of St Mark’s Church, Newnham (1871), the Cambridge Corn Exchange (1875‒76), the neighbouring Red Cow public house (1898), the alms houses on King Street (1880), and many private houses and other buildings in Cambridge.
He was for many years Clerk of Works to Ely Cathedral, and was involved, under Sir George Gilbert Scott, in the restoration of the octagon, about which he wrote a paper in 1876. He was also involved in the restoration of many medieval churches throughout Cambridgeshire, including within Cambridge the chapel of Jesus College, and Great St Mary’s. Jon Harris described his architecture as “strong, very distinguished, usually quiet and always original”.
Reynolds married Charlotte Hedley in Caistor, Lincs, in the spring of 1879, after which the couple lived at “Park House”, 16 Parkside, Cambridge for the remainder of their lives, apparently childless. His architectural office was at 10 Emmanuel Street.
He took an active interest in local affairs, being for some years a member of the Town Council, of the Improvement Commission, and of the Board of Guardians of the Cambridge workhouse. He was a Knight of Justice of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and took considerable part in the formation of the Church Congress. At the time of his death he was president of several national societies. He is described as having been “kind and benevolent, his intellect strong, and his energy untiring” (Grace).
Reynolds died on 21 December 1899, aged 75 and his funeral on 27 December at St Andrew the Great and at Mill Road Cemetery was a grand affair, with many architects, engineers, city dignitaries and college heads as mourners.
Isaac Daw Russell of West Tisbury died February 27th at Martha’s Vineyard hospital, just three months after the death of his beloved wife, Gertrude Richards Russell. Born in New York City on January 7th, 1933, Isaac was the first-born child of Henry E. Russell and Faye Rattenbury Russell of Tenafly, NJ and the adored big brother to Clare, Dorsa, Gillian, and Felicity. While attending Kent School in Kent, CT, Isaac was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and rowed for the crew that traveled to London for the Henley Royal Regatta. He came home with a first place medal and a lifetime love of the sport. In 1954 he met the love of his life, Trudy, during a doubles tennis game pre-arranged by his younger sister, Clare, and his soon-to-be sister-in-law, Ann. After graduating with a BA from Yale University, Isaac was promptly sent by the US Army to the Panama Canal Zone for two years. When he returned in 1956, he and Trudy married and moved to Cambridge, MA where he attended Harvard Law School. He liked to mention, with some pride, that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on the Harvard Law Review with him, but he also acknowledged with humility that she was much smarter than he.
In 1959, he joined the law firm of Day, Berry, and Howard in Hartford, CT and together with Trudy raised three children, four good dogs, and a couple of inscrutable cats. Isaac was an engaging and attentive father. He read stories aloud most evenings and, following the service on Sundays at Grace Church, led the kids on hikes at the reservoir or bike rides around the neighborhood. He volunteered himself and his children to visit elderly friends and relatives in nursing homes and to ride bikes with the visually impaired. Throughout his life, he worked to build affordable housing in Hartford CT, Johannesburg, South Africa, and later on Martha’s Vineyard.
After years trying to persuade his children to take the Foreign Service exam, he decided to take it himself, and passed! At the age of 56 he left Hartford and proudly became a “junior officer in training” in the US Foreign Service and was soon posted to Zimbabwe as a Cultural Affairs Officer in the US Information Agency, followed by postings to the Ivory Coast and Ethiopia. After “aging out” of the US Foreign Service at age 65, he taught Constitutional Law at Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya, before returning to West Tisbury to settle in and embrace the role of Grandfather and community member. He was an active congregant of Grace Church, Vineyard Haven, the Howe’s House Conversation Group, and even made a few nerve-wracking forays into island theater.
Isaac’s connection to Martha’s Vineyard began in the 1940s in Oak Bluffs with cousins in the summer and deepened at his parents’ camp on Deep Bottom Cove in West Tisbury. The Russell family enjoyed many summers there, without heat, running water, or electricity, often sailing or paddling across Tisbury Great Pond and riding the waves at South Beach. Isaac and Trudy eventually moved to West Tisbury in 1998 and their house became the welcoming nexus for family gatherings, large and small. Ike’s booming “Hello’s!” welcomed all who came in the door. We will all miss his warm embrace and infectious smile.
Isaac was a man of deep intelligence, an ebullient nature, and numerous accomplishments. He once stated in a quiet moment, however, that what he most wanted was “to be a good person.” And that he was. Eternally optimistic, kind, cheerful, funny, and loving, he found joy wherever he was and spread it generously. Isaac believed that marrying Trudy was the best thing he ever did, and he was a devoted, loving husband for seventy years. We like to think of them reunited once again among the stars.
A Henley Spare in 1962 for the Kent School, Connecticut.