Thomas Rusden
Thomas George Rusden was an Australian politician and pastoralist. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1855 and 1856 and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for one term between 1856 and 1857.Early life
Rusden was the son of an Anglican clergyman who migrated to New South Wales and was appointed to a chaplaincy in Maitland in 1835. After a liberal education under his father's tutorship, Rusden squatted in the New England district and by 1844 he had acquired substantial property including 60,000 acres of pastoral land in the Shannon Vale area near Glen Innes. His nine siblings included Francis Rusden, who was also a pastoralist and member of the Legislative Assembly, the historian George Rusden and the polemicist and noted public servant Henry Rusden.Colonial Parliament
In 1855, prior to the establishment of responsible self-government, Rusden was elected to the Legislative Council for the Pastoral Districts of New England and Macleay. He represented the electorate until the granting of responsible self-government in 1856. Subsequently, at the first election under the new constitution he was elected as one of the two members for the same district in the Legislative Assembly. Rusden was defeated at the next election in 1858. He did not hold a ministerial or parliamentary position. He was unsuccessful in four attempts to regain a seat.
