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| Rouse Hill House |
Rouse Hill House and Farm at Rouse Hill in western Sydney, is managed by Sydney Living Museums under the Historic Houses Trust of NSW
It is indeed a living museum taking us back to the early days of the colony of New South Wales, and telling us the story of six generations of the Rouse family who continuously lived there from its beginnings in 1813 to 1990s.
It is rich in both colonial and convict heritage.
The actual site is the traditional lands of the Darug aboriginal people. After the founding of the colony, it saw the passage of the Hawkesbury Road (1794-1813) and later Governor Macquarie's original Windsor turnpike road of 1813. It was also the scene of the 1804 Viengar Hill convict uprising.
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| View of Old Windsor (turnpike) Road looking west from Second Ponds Creek, near the site of the 1813 tollhouse. |
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| View of Old Windsor Road looking west towards the school house near the site of the vinegar Hill 1804 convict uprising. |
Richard Rouse was the Superintendent of Public Works and Convicts. Appointed in 1805, he moved with his family to a house opposite the gates of Government House at Parramatta. Due to his loyalty to Governor William Bligh he lost his position, but in January 1810 he was reinstated by Governor Lachlan Macquarie. He oversaw the construction of many buildings, tollhouses and turnpikes around Parramatta, Windsor and Liverpool.
In 1813, Rouse was contracted by Governor Macquarie to build a tollhouse at the foot of Vinegar Hill on the Windsor turnpike road. He received a 450 acre land grant in the vicinity which at the suggestion of Macquarie was named Rouse Hill.
Although the actual grant was not made official until 8 October 1816, it appears that Rouse had been clearing the land from 1813 and had begun construction of the construction of a Georgian style house.
Convict labour would have been used extensively in the construction of the house and the farm outbuildings, including the stables.
The House
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| Front view of Rouse Hill House Open Day 17 August 2013 |
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| Dining Room |
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| Inside Stairs |
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| Exposed area of floor of upper storey showing the work of convict carpenters |
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| Back Courtyard |
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| View of the back of the House showing entry to the courtyard area |
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| View of the Summerhouse and pathway
The Farm Outbuildings
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| Bathhouse 1856 |
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| Shearing shed |
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| Piggery |
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| Dairy |
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| Impressive Stables building |
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| Stonework outside of Stables |
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| Inside view of stalls |
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| An interesting early "No smoking allowed " sign |
| SURNAME | GIVEN NAME | TRANSPORT SHIP | DATE OF ARRIVAL |
| BOYLE | John | Bussorah Merchant | 14/12/1831 |
| BULLOCK | Benjamin | Waterloo | 9/7/1829 |
| COMPSON | James | Staffordshire | 16/11/1832 |
| DOOLAN | Patrick | Bussorah Merchant | 14/12/1831 |
| FARRELL | James | Sophia | 17/1/1829 |
| FARRELLY | Thomas | Calcutta | 5/8/1837 |
| FORDE | John | Borodino | 12/7/1828 |
| FRESHWATER | Thomas | Manlius | 11/8/1827 |
| HARROW | Michael | Larkins | 22/11/1817 |
| HEALY | Timothy | Borodino | 12/7/1828 |
| HEWITT | Patrick | Borodino | 12/7/1828 |
| HITCH | John | Norfolk | 12/2/1837 |
| HOLT | Samuel | Florentia | 3/1/1828 |
| M'GLINAHY | |||
| [M'GLINCHY] | |||
| [M'CLINCHY] | Daniel | Sophia | 17/1/1829 |
| M'GRATH | Owen | Ferguson | 26/3/1829 |
| M'NALLY | Daniel | Sophia | 17/1/1829 |
| NICHOLS | William | Sesostris | 21/3/1826 |
| ODGERS | Edward | Sophia | 17/1/1829 |
| ORPHAN | |||
| [OLIPHANT] | Edwin | Parmelia | 16/11/1832 |
| PAGE | Edmund | Surrey | 26/11/1831 |
| PEACHMAN | John | Florentia | 15/12/1830 |
| REEBUCK | |||
| [ROEBUCK] | William | Parmelia | 16/11/1832 |
| REED | Thomas | Surrey | 26/11/1831 |
| RINGROSE | George | Marquis of Huntley | 21/8/1830 |
| ROBERTSON | James | America | 18/8/1829 |
| ROBINSON | Benjamin | Manlius | 11/8/1827 |
| ROBINSON | William | Asia | 13/2/1832 |
| ROTHWELL | James | Florentia | 15/12/1830 |
| WARREN | William | Vittoria | 17/1/1829 |
| WOODISON | Thomas | Marquis of Hastings | 31/7/1827 |
In his capacity as Superintendent of Convicts at Parramatta and the owner of a a property at Bathurst, History Services NSW has some further 230 records of convicts who had come under the jurisdiction of Richard Rouse.
If you are interested in researching the convict history of the Rouse story, in particular that of Rouse Hill, you should go to the website at:
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Prepared by Mary McGuinness
All photos taken on the Open Day at Rouse Hill House and Farm on 17 August 2013
Sources:
Richard Rouse (1774-1852) - Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2 (MUP) 1967 - article by Majorie Lenehan.
Convict Database of History Services NSW
Prepared by Mary McGuinness
All photos taken on the Open Day at Rouse Hill House and Farm on 17 August 2013
Sources:
Richard Rouse (1774-1852) - Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2 (MUP) 1967 - article by Majorie Lenehan.
Convict Database of History Services NSW
