James Ruse (9 August 1759 – 5 September 1837) was a Cornish farmer who, at the age of 23, was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. He arrived at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence remaining. Ruse applied to Colony Governor Arthur Phillip for a land grant, stating that he had been bred for farming. Governor Phillip, desperate to make the colony self-sufficient, allocated Ruse an allotment at Rose Hill (now Rosehill, near Parramatta), where he proved himself industrious and showed that it was possible for a family to survive through farming. Ruse received a land grant, from which he grew and sold 600 bushels of corn 30 acres (120,000 m2). Ruse was the recipient of the first land grant in New South Wa