South Wales Corps for 40 pounds. 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, where he operated a less successful farm. Later, his source of income was wiped out by flooding, which was always a risk involved with farming in the Hawkesbury. Ruse seems to have been away from his family for some time and it has been assumed that he went to sea at the same time that he had his son James the younger indentured to Kable and Underwood. This left his wife, Elizabeth to take care of the family on her own. During this period, she had two children with convict James Kiss. These children were Ann Ruse Kiss (b. 1801) and William James Ruse Kiss (1806−1853). James Ruse was heavily in debt and it is suggested that the hard work of his wife Elizabeth saved him from bankruptcy. Elizabeth is shown in the records as supplying crops to the stores in her own right. From 1828, James was employed as an overseer of Denham Court. In 1836, James Ruse and James Kiss were received into the Catholic church together. Ruse died at Campbelltown on 5 September 1837 and is buried with wife Elizabeth and daughter Mary. Ruse's gravestone, parts of which he carved himself, reads: "Gloria in Axcelsis SACRED TO THE MEMEREY OF JAMES RUSE WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE SEPT. 5TH IN THE YEAR OF HOURE LORD 1837 NATEF OF CORNWELL AND ARIVED IN THIS COLENEY BY THE FIRST FLEET AGED 78 MY MOTHER REREAD ME TENDERELY WITH ME SHE TOCK MUCH PAINES AND WHEN I ARIVED IN THIS COELNEY I SOWD THE FORST GRAIN AND NOW WITH MY HEVENLY FATHER I HOPE FOR EVER TO REMAIN" Family life James Ruse married Susannah Norcott in Cornwall, England in 1779. They had one daughter, Elizabeth (1779−1779) and one son, Richard (1780−1842). After being transported for his crime and creating a new life in New South Wales, Ruse married fellow convict Elizabeth Parry (1769 – 27 May 1836) on 5 September 1790. They had five children together – Rebecah (1791−1792), James (1793−1866), Elizabeth (1794−1875), Susannah (1796 – 1872), and Mary (1798−1871). Although the family history of James Ruse is well-documented, historical records never identified the parents of Ann Ruse Kiss (b. 1801) and William James