Benjamin Russell (January 10, 1849 – September 20, 1935) was a Canadian lawyer, professor of law, judge, and politician in the province Nova Scotia.

Born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to Nathaniel and Agnes Russell,[1] he was educated at the Halifax Grammar School, and graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison College in 1868.

As successor to Sir John Sparrow David Thompson, he reported debates in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly (1869 to 1883).

[2] On 6 March 1918, Russell was approached by an independent Halifax lawyer, Walter Joseph Aloysius O'Hearn, the representative of Francis Mackey, the pilot of the ill-fated SS Mont-Blanc.

On 6 December 1917, Mackey's ship, laden with a cargo of highly volatile explosives, collided with SS Imo, a Belgian Relief vessel under Norwegian registry, in Halifax Harbour.

Along with the captain of the vessel, Aimé Le Médec, and the chief examining officer of the port, Commander F. Evan Wyatt, Mackey had been accused of manslaughter and criminal negligence and arrested.

The case, In re Mackey, was added as a citation to the Criminal Code of Canada beginning in 1919 under Section 262 entitled, Manslaughter defined.