James Ruse - As A Pioneering Farmer

As A Pioneering Farmer

In February 1791, Ruse declares to the authorities that he is self-sufficient, and two months later, in March, he was granted a further 30 acres. 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. John Harris of the New South Wales Corps. The property is now the Experiment Farm Cottage Museum of the National Trust of Australia.

In 1794, Ruse moved further out, to the junction of the Hawkesbury River with South Creek, and became a fairly successful farmer. He and Elizabeth raised seven children, two of whom were thought to have been adopted. Later, however, he was wiped out by flooding, which was 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.

Ruse's gravestone, parts of 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."