and planner of Melbourne." The question continued to spark debate in newspaper letters pages and at meetings of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria years later. As The Age'' suggested in 1935 'Just who made the original survey of Melbourne may well be a matter for discussion for centuries to come'. Later career In 1839, Russell designed St James Old Cathedral, the oldest building in Melbourne (though moved just outside the city grid in 1914) and one of the very few pre-Gold Rush buildings in the city. Russell later practised as an architect in Melbourne until he was forced to retire by old age. He kept his mind to the last and died at Richmond, Melbourne, on 10 April 1900, aged 92. He married and was survived by two sons and two daughters. In addition to being an architect and surveyor Russell did 'extensive work as a sketcher, amateur photographer, etcher, lithographer (and) carver'. He did valuable work as an amateur artist by preserving many original sketches of Melbourne in its early years, in both water-colour and pencil and in 1952 an exhibition of his 'lost paintings' was held at the Tye gallery in Melbourne Russell's artwork is in the collections of the State Library of Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales. There is a portrait of him in old age painted c1890 by Frederick McCubbin in the collection of the National Library of Australia. In 1969, the Victorian chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects named their St. Kilda Road property 'Robert Russell House' in recognition of his work. References External links Russell's 1836 survey Hoddle's 'official' survey Entry in Australian Dictionary Of Biography Entry in Design & Art Australia Online Entry in Encyclopedia of Australian Science Australian surveyors Australian diarists Australian people of English descent 1808 births 1900 deaths 19th-century Australian architects 19th-century Australian artists Settlers of Melbourne 19th-century diarists