15 Facts About James Ruse

James Ruse was a Cornish farmer who, at age 23, was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years' transportation.

James Ruse arrived at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence remaining.

James Ruse received a land grant, from which he grew and sold 600 bushels of wheat 30 acres.

James Ruse was the recipient of the first land grant in New South Wales.

James Ruse was reprieved and sentenced to transportation for seven years.

In 1789, James Ruse produced the first successful corn harvest in New South Wales.

That harvest failed to yield sufficient corn to make flour for the colony, but James Ruse produced enough seeds for the next year's crop, which was successful.

James Ruse expected to reap about eight bushels to the acre.

In 1794, James Ruse moved further out, to the junction of the Hawkesbury River with South Creek, where he operated a less successful farm.

James Ruse was heavily in debt and it is suggested that the hard work of his wife Elizabeth saved him from bankruptcy.

From 1828, James Ruse was employed as an overseer of Denham Court.

James Ruse died at Campbelltown on 5 September 1837 and is buried with wife Elizabeth and daughter Mary.

James Ruse married Susannah Norcott in South Petherwin, Cornwall, in 1779.

The original headstone, carved by James Ruse himself, was moved by his descendants to a secure location after vandals damaged some headstones in the Old St Johns cemetery at Campbelltown.

In 1980, the noted Cornish folk singer Brenda Wootton wrote and recorded the song "James Ruse" which uses as a chorus the last four lines of the headstone's inscription.