George William Rusden

George William Rusden (9 July 1819 – 23 December 1903) was an English-born historian, active in Australia.

Rusden was born in Leith Hill Place (near Dorking), Surrey, England, son of the Rev. George Keylock Rusden, M.A. (1784-1859) and his wife Anne, née Townsend. G.K. Rusden was a polyglot and mathematician who kept a private school for 23 years in Surrey before migrating with his family to New South Wales where he was appointed a chaplain at Maitland from 1 January 1835.

George William Rusden travelled with his family to Australia and befriended Charles Nicholson on the voyage. Rusden was at first employed on the land, and was soon managing properties. At 28 years of age Rusden travelled to China and worked for a time at brother-in-law Ellis Gilman's Canton factory. Rusden visited his brother Alfred who was a tea-taster in Shanghai before returning to Sydney in early 1849.

In 1849 Rusden became an agent for the establishment of national schools in the Port Phillip district and later at Moreton Bay. He was appointed under-secretary in the colonial secretary's office at Melbourne in 1851, clerk of the executive council in 1852, and clerk of the Victorian Legislative Council in 1856. He retained his interest in education as a member of the council of the University of Melbourne from its inception, and was largely responsible for the foundation of the Shakespeare scholarship. In 1871 he published The Discovery, Survey and Settlement of Port Phillip, an interesting pamphlet of some 60 pages. Three years later his Curiosities of Colonization appeared. This consists largely of accounts of Maurice Margarot, one of the "Scottish Martyrs", and Joseph Holt, the Irish rebel general. Both of these pamphlets are very scarce.

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