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| Images courtesy Patricia Walden Marsh Great granddaughter of William David Kiss, half brother of Wilhelmena Kiss Roberts |
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THE RUSE/KISS DNA PROJECT: UPDATE 2019
Sometimes the most simple explanation turns
out to be the truth. The results are in and
the Ruse-Kiss family DNA project has been
completed. We can now confirm without a doubt
that James Ruse's wife Elizabeth Perry was
indeed the biological mother of Ann Ruse
Kiss and William James Ruse Kiss, the children
of James Kiss. James Kiss was a convict who
arrived in Sydney on the ship The Ganges
in 1797.
The identity of the mother of Ann and William
seemed to have been lost in time, but her
identity was in fact there all along. The
complication comes from Ann and William not
having baptism records. Due to the fact that
Elizabeth was married to James Ruse when
she gave birth to James Kiss's children,
historians in the last century overlooked
Elizabeth as the true mother. Historians
have assumed that the Ruses "adopted"
the Kiss children, but they were in fact
biological children of the family all along.
Additionally, the records indicate that James
Ruse and Elizabeth Perry were apart for some
years in the early 1800s with records showing
Elizabeth farming in her own right. There
is also the unconfirmed possibility of polyandry.
James Ruse and James Kiss were said to be
friends, and they were baptised into the
Catholic Church together a few months after
Elizabeth passed away. Probably so that they
(at least in the case of James Ruse) could
be buried into the Catholic graveyard with
her. Furthermore, the reason that Ann Ruse
Kiss and William James Ruse Kiss are noted
in the record with both Ruse and Kiss as
their surnames at different points, is because
their mother's surname at that time was Ruse,
their father's surname was Kiss and their
parents were not married. It was not for
any other complicated reason.
Now the science. Many descendants of the
Ruse and Kiss children have taken DNA tests
in the last few years with companies like
Ancestry, My Heritage and Family Tree DNA.
The descendants of the Ruse and Kiss children
noticed that they were in fact genetic matches
to each other. That is when the truth was
realised. To confirm this without a doubt,
Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA tests
were carried out through familytreedna.com
to test our theory. Y-chromosomes are passed
on from father to son only. Mitochondrial
DNA is passed on from your mother only.
James Ruse had a son Richard with his first
wife in Cornwall, England. Many descendants
of Richard are an autosomal DNA match to
many of the descendants of Elizabeth Ruse
and Susannah Ruse. Elizabeth and Susannah
were James Ruse's daughters with Elizabeth
Perry. Many descendants of Ann and William
are also an autosomal match to Elizabeth
and Susannah's descendants. No descendants
of Richard are a genetic match to Ann or
William's descendants. Accordingly, a direct
male line descendant of Richard and a direct
male line descendant of William took the
Y- chromosome test. Just as we suspected,
they did not match, confirming that James
Ruse was not the biological father of the
Kiss children. Additionally, direct female
line descendants of Elizabeth (the daughter)
and Susannah Ruse, along with a direct female
line descendant of Ann Kiss took the mitochondrial
DNA test. All three participants are a mitochondrial
DNA match to each other. This confirms that
Elizabeth Perry was indeed the biological
mother of the Kiss children.
Thank you to the members of the Ruse-Kiss
clan who helped with fund-raising, marketing
and finding our participants. A special thank
you to our Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA subjects,
who without, this project would have been
impossible. An extra special thanks to Margaret
McLennan for the management of the DNA testing.
©2019 Amanda Gabb. All rights reserved.
Our DNA project (above) confirmed what we
suspected, Elizabeth Perry, the wife of James
Ruse was conclusively the biological mother
of Ann and William Kiss.
James Ruse was absent for some time in the
early 1800s, we currently have a couple of
theories which we are investigating regarding
this. James Ruse came back to Elizabeth later
on. I am hoping that my scheduled trip to
the Mitchell Library next fortnight will
be able provide conclusive answers.
James Ruse's absence seems to have lead
to James Kiss and Elizabeth producing Ann
and William; it is 'possible' that Elizabeth
might not have thought that Ruse was coming
back. Once we have more confirmations, I
am happy to provide those to you if you wish.
However, the current evidence 'indicates'
that the ships crews lists belong to James
Ruse Jnr, not Snr. James Jnr was indentured
to Kable & Underwood in May 1801 as an
apprentice mariner. It is important to note
that sailing was James Jnr's trade and we
have not found any crew lists listing two
men named James Ruse. One voyage, on the
American brig Aurora, sailed for Macquarie
Island in September 1810, returning in December
1810. "James Ruse" was listed in
the Claims & Demands section of the Sydney
Gazette as part of the crew for the Aurora,
however we know that this was not Snr as
Snr was a witness to Andrew Thompson's will
in October 1810 prior to the Aurora returning
to Port Jackson.
Ann (b abt 1802) and William Kiss (b abt
1806) were born at the Hawkesbury, not Lower
Minto. The family had no connection to Campbelltown
& Lower Minto until the 1820s. The confusion
comes from William's adult baptism; Lower
Minto is noted as where William was living
as an adult. In 1834, William Kiss, his half
sister Mary Ruse (both as adults), and William's
baby Mary Ann were all baptised into the
Catholic Church together. The baptism took
place at St John the Evangelist Catholic
Church, Campbelltown, not in Sydney. The
record states "William Kiss, aged twenty-eight
years, a resident of Lower Minto District."
On 16 October 1836, William's father James
Kiss, and his stepfather James Ruse followed
and were baptised together at St John's Campbelltown,
along with William's baby William. In James
Ruse's case it would have been to some extent
so he could be buried with Elizabeth who
had passed away five months earlier. We have
not found a burial record for James Kiss,
I suspect he might also be buried in St John's
Campbelltown due to the fact that St John's
burial records are missing for that period.
We only know that the Ruses are in there
thanks to their headstones but if you search
NSW BDM you will not find a mention James
Ruse & Elizabeth's deaths. It seems likely
that Elizabeth Perry was baptised Catholic
as a baby. She was recorded as the sponsor
(godparent) on her granddaughter Mary Ann
Harrigan's Catholic baptism in 1825.
We have not found any birth (baptism) records
for Ann and William, but this is not out
of character for the family. We have not
been able to find a baptism record for Ann
& William's older half sister Susannah
Ruse either. Susannah has been confirmed
100% as the daughter of James Ruse and Elizabeth
Perry through DNA. The absence of records
for these three of Elizabeth's children 'could'
be connected to affects of the Hawkesbury
floods as there were floods recorded during
the rough time timeframe of the births of
all three.
As far as James Kiss having a son also named
James Kiss, I do not believe this to be the
case. This assumption seems to have come
from fact that William's burial was incorrectly
recorded under his father's name James in
1853. We know that the burial is William's
due to the age listed on the record. We have
no reason to believe that he went by the
name James during his life, all other records
of him refer to him as either William Ruse
or William Kiss, in fact it would be odd
for Elizabeth to name two sons the same name.
I do however refer to him as "William
James Ruse KISS" to cover all bases
of the records, but ultimately his name was
just William Kiss.
In regards to Catherine Hegarty and Ann Kelly,
they have no connection to the family, other
than the fact that they were recorded as
living with James Kiss on one occasion. Neither
woman was the mother of James Kiss's children.
Early Information below of the Kiss Family History courtesy of Patricia Marsh.
James Kiss was a convict. He was the youngest
of 7 children of Mary and William Kiss of Birmingham. In July of 1793,
James, aged about 20, along with one Mary Howarth, aged 28, assaulted
and stole a hat from a Mr. Jones of Birmingham. According to the Birmingham
Gazette dated 5th August 1793, they were tried at the Warwick County Court
of Petty Sessions on the 27th July 1793 and convicted of the crime. They
were sentenced to death. James' sentence was commuted to life transportation
and for about 4 years he was held on and worked from the infamous prison
hulks at Portsmouth in England. During these 4 years he endured very harsh
conditions. The convicts dredged the Thames to make embankments, repaired
roads, worked on buildings and generally did whatever the local authorities
wanted them to do. They had very little food and slept on cold damp floors.
They were often flogged.
In early 1797, James together with other
convicts, was transferred to the ship "Ganges" which departed from
Portsmouth in England and arrived at Port Jackson on the 2nd June 1797. On his arrival
in the colony he was assigned to Mr. Grimes, the Surveyor General, where
he was employed as a servant and was given the title "surveyor's man".
It is recorded that in 1801 he was "off stores" and living with Mr. Grimes
in the Hawkesbury district.
In 1805, James was granted a Ticket of Leave
in the Hawkesbury district where he rented 10 acres of land from a Mr.
Palmer and according to the Muster had 2 acres under wheat, 3 acres under
maize, 3 1/2 acres pasture, 1 acre fallow, 1/4 acre of orchard and garden.
Ann Kelly, Catherine Hegarty and her son Henry had moved in and were living
with him.
On the 29th February 1812, James Kiss was
granted a Conditional Pardon and by 1814 was still listed on the Musters but
recorded as being free, off stores and his occupation was given as a
labourer. By 1820 he had moved to Sydney and had signed a letter requesting
Governor Lachlan Macquarie to grant him a small piece of land in Sydney
so that he could build himself a small cottage. Simeon Lord, a wealthy landowner
who was sent to the colony as a convict for 7 years and also had a small
part in the Rum Rebellion, co-signed James' application. William Cox
was named as previously petitioning on James' behalf and also William
Cowper, the Colonial Secretary at the time. James' occupation was listed
as a horse dealer of Sydney. His request must have been granted because in
1822 his occupation was listed as a horse trader from 1823 to 1825 he was employed
by a Mr. James Underwood in Sydney and according to the 1828 Census
records, James Kiss, aged 61, was employed as a labourer for James Underwood's
distillery at Botany and had been granted a Full Pardon.
The following is a story as related to me.
The informant describes it as "the most confusing story I have ever read
and tried to decipher ". It is hoped that someone may be able to contribute
a solution to prove this story or to correct or discredit it. When James
Kiss went to the Hawkesbury district he had dealings with James Ruse
who was a convict and had arrived on the First Fleet in 1788. James Ruse had
set up and run the first " Experimental Farm" at Rose Hill near
Parramatta which he sold for 40 pounds in 1793. In early 1794 James Ruse was granted
30 acres of land at Mulgrave Place on the Hawkesbury River.
It is not known who the mother of James Kiss'
children was, if indeed they were his children. There was an Ann Kelly
who had a daughter Ann by John St. Leger and there was Catherine Hegarty, mother
of Henry, who became bored and fed up with farm life and left for Sydney
where she formed a new relationship with Benjamin Kelly, mate on
the ship " Venus " on which he subsequently led a mutiny. Catherine and
Kelly sailed to New Zealand where Catherine was killed by a Maori woman who
"wanted Kelly for herself ".
In regards to the Kiss and Ruse children,
it appears that at some time, James Kiss had cared for the Ruse children
and Ruse had cared for 2 of the Kiss children - James, who was also known
as William Ruse because Ruse already had a son called James, and Ann ,
also known as Ann Ruse or Ann Ruse Kiss.
At some time James Ruse' wife Elizabeth was
left to fend for herself while her husband and older son were at sea and
James Kiss supposedly was given responsibility for his own children, at this
time William Ruse became James Kiss again, as well as some of the Ruse children
- this part of the mystery probably will never be solved because someone
directly involved would have to tell the story but maybe the story has
been handed down and there is a solution. Suffice it to say that it appears
from the researched records that James Kiss never married but is supposedly
the father of 3 children, William born 1803 at Liverpool, James born 1807 and
Ann Ruse Kiss born 1810 according to records other than the BDM records,
at this early stage of the colony, births were only recorded by the
christening records kept by the various churches and if the child was not
baptised, there was no record kept of the birth. According to the BDM baptismal
records, in 1836 two James Kiss's were baptised, one has the notation
of adult and it can be reasonably assumed that the adult was James the convict
and the other, his son. They were baptised in the Catholic Church at the
same time as his grandson William, born to his son William and Elizabeth
Kennedy.
What is confusing about the history of James
Kiss is that there does not appear to be any record of him having been
married, or even applying for Permission to Marry, which all convicts needed
to have to get married. Permission had to be granted by the Governor.
The birth record of William Kiss on the BDM records does not list the
father and mother, it just states he was born at Lower Abode, Minto and there
does not appear to be any listing for James Junior or Ann Ruse. Maybe
someone can provide the answers.
More About JAMES KISS:
Baptism: 1836, St. Mary's Catholic Church,
Sydney NSW.
Occupation: Labourer,farmer, horse dealer,
horse trader.
Report of John Wilson on 1 individual petition
(Earl of Warwick) on behalf of James Kiss, convicted (with Mary Howarth)
at the 'last' Warwickshire Assizes, for an assault on Benjamin Jones
and stealing his hat in Birmingham Churchyard, on 8 June 1793. Evidences supplied
by Benjamin Jones and James Kiss. There are also character testimonies
from John Marson and Thomas Willdey. Grounds for clemency: acted under
the influence of 'a bad Woman', a collective petition is already in existence
(in Birmingham) and can be forwarded to the Home Secretary if necessary,
both parents died when he was a child, previously honest and had been entrusted
with valuables in the past. Initial sentence: death, commuted to
transportation.
Recommendation: no mercy.
Folios 262-267. See also HO 47/16/89 <http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/LinkFromEADRef.asp?CATREF=HO-d 9-c47-p16-i89> , folios 349-350. Covering dates 1793 Sep 23
Also:
5. James Kiss and Mary Howarth, for a highway
robbery.
Recommendation: transportation for life.
See also HO 47/16/64 <http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/LinkFromEADRef.asp?CATREF=HO-d 9-c47-p16-i64> , folios 262-267.
Hi Kate
The female lines from James Kiss are eligible
for membership of the Pioneer Women Society of Australia. I have sent this
via face book to all the women, girls who are the descendants of William
David Kiss husband of Mary McKee and stepson of Mary Ann Breen, Kiss,
McKee, half brother to Wilhelmena Kiss Roberts. You may be able to disseminate
this information to other relatives
Patricia Marsh
