The Wedding of Bertrand Russell and Alys Pearsall Smith
33 of 56 portraits of Alys Whitall Russell (née Pearsall Smith)







© National Portrait Gallery, London
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The Wedding of Bertrand Russell and Alys Pearsall Smith
by Unknown photographer
printing-out paper print on card, 13 December 1894
5 5/8 in. x 3 1/4 in. (143 mm x 84 mm) overall
Given by Barbara Strachey (Hultin, later Halpern), 1999
Photographs Collection
NPG Ax160690
Sittersback to top
- Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell (1872-1970), Philosopher, mathematician and social reformer. Sitter in 119 portraits.
- Alys Whitall Russell (née Pearsall Smith) (1867-1951), First wife of Bertrand Russell; daughter of Robert Pearsall Smith. Sitter in 56 portraits.
Events of 1894back to top
Current affairs
Following Gladstone's resignation, Queen Victoria calls on the Liberal MP Archibald Primrose, the 5th Earl of Rosebery to become Prime Minister, a position he reluctantly accepts. His government is largely unsuccessful as the Tory-dominated House of Lords stop the whole of the Liberal's domestic legislation, and his foreign policy plans are defeated by internal Liberal disagreements.Art and science
The Prince of Wales opens Tower Bridge, built over the Thames to improve access to the growing commercial district of the East End. The bridge was constructed from two bascules, or leaves, which could be raised to allow ships to pass underneath.Rudyard Kipling's hugely popular collection of children's stories and poems, The Jungle Book, is published. The stories, based on Kipling's own experiences in India, have been adapted many times.
International
The arrest and court-martial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer, opens up divisions in France over anti-semitism continuing until Dreyfus's exoneration in 1906. The French President Sadi Carnot is assassinated by an Italian anarchist in Lyon.Nicholas II becomes Tsar of Russia following the death of Alexander III.
Japan and China go to war over control of Korea, with the more modern Japanese army winning an easy victory.
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