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James Ruse (1759-1837) was convicted in 1782 of breaking and entering, and sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived at Sydney Cove on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence to go. Ruse applied to Governor Phillip (of the Colony) for a land grant, stating that he had been bred to farming. Governor Phillip, desperate to make the colony selfsufficient, allocated Ruse an allotment at Rose Hill (Parramatta), where he proved himself industrious and showed that it was possible for a family to survive through farming. Having done this, Ruse received a grant of 30 acres (Grant No 1) and by 1793 was able to sell 600 bushels of maize. He later exchanged this grant for more fertile land on the Hawkesbury. Ruse never built on his initial success.1

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Early life

Ruse was born on a farm in Cornwall England. In 1782 he was tried at Bodmin Assizes and sentenced to death for "burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling house of Thomas Olive and stealing thereout 2 silver watches, value 5 pounds." He was reprieved and sentenced to transportation for seven years. He was sent on the Scarborough, one of the First Fleet, and arrived in NSW on 19 January 1788

As a pioneering farmer

Governor Arthur Philip allocated Ruse one and a half acres (6,000 m²) of already cleared ground and assisted in clearing a further five acres (20,000 m²). He was to be given two cows and six hens and was to be fed and clothed from the public store for 15 months. In return, if he was successful, he was to be granted 30 acres (120,000 m²).

After 15 months Ruse announced that he and his wife Elizabeth (he married her in 1790) were now self-sufficient in food, and their farm formed the nucleus of a small community of farmers who, while technically still convicts, enjoyed considerable freedom and later had other convicts assigned to work for them. An account of Ruse's methods is given on pp. 80-1 of A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson by Watkin Tench. Ruse expected to reap about eight bushels (290 litres) to the acre. After Ruse's sentence expired in 1792, the title of his land was deeded to him, the first land grant in the colony. In 1793 he sold his land to Dr Harris of the New South Wales Corps.

In 1794 Ruse moved further out, to the junction of the Hawkesbury River and South Creek, and became a fairly successful farmer. He and Elizabeth had seven children together (two of them thought to be adopted). Later, however, he was wiped out by flooding (always the risk of farming in the Hawkesbury) and had to find work as a seaman. He was heavily in debt and only the hard work of his wife saved him from bankruptcy. From 1828 he was employed as an overseer by a landowner at Minto, south of Sydney. He died at Campbelltown on 5 September 1837.

In memory of James Ruse

Ruse's gravestone, which he carved himself, reads:

"Sacred to the memory of James Ruse who departed this life September 5 in the year of Houre Lord 1837. Natef of Cornwell and arrived in this colony by the First Fleet, aged 77.
My mother reread thy tenderly
With me she took much pain
And when I arrived in this colony I sowed the first grains
And now with my heavenly father I hope for ever to remain."

A replica of his tombstone stands in the front garden of Barrengarry House, the administration block at James Ruse Agricultural High School. The memory of James Ruse is perpetuated in the naming of key locations in Sydney, including James Ruse Agricultural High School, in Carlingford; James Ruse Drive, running from Silverwater to Northmead, near Parramatta; and Ruse, a suburb in southwest Sydney.

See also

References
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