John Rule - born in Camborne in the middle of the nineteenth century, and laid to rest in Camborne Parish churchyard - spent much of his life overseas.
I hope you enjoy exploring aspects of his life through the images on this page.
Items sold by John Rule & Co. in Glen Innes, Australia
Drapery; Millinery; Clothing; Mercury; Boots; Grocery; tobacco and cigars; Ironmongery, Tinware; Crockery and glassware; Stationery; Furniture; Bedsteads; Rod bedding; Galvanised iron; Paints; Oils; Paper; Brushware; Produce; Garden seeds, and Station supplies.
John Rule's writing drew attention at home and abroad: while living at Glen Innes, the following article appeared in the local paper, quoting a poem from a book published by John:
Glen Innes Examiner and General Advertiser – Tuesday 22nd May 1900, page 2
Local Talent. We have received a booklet entitled ‘Magersfontain and Tommy Atkins,’ being a poetical effusion from the pen of Mr. John Rule. The production is neatly arranged and is from the press of Varley Bros. Melbourne. We congratulate Mr. Rule on his efforts, and as the verses contain a patriotic strain and run with an even swing, will be much appreciated by those who have the good fortune to secure a copy. Tommy Atkins certainly stirs the readers and shows that:
You are fighting, Tommy Atkins
As your father's fought of old.
Not for lust of wanton slaughter,
Not for greed of miser’s gold.
But for freedom, Tommy Atkins –
Freedom from th’ usurpers chain.
Freedom from the galling slave-links
That to mankind are a strain.
This is why we're weary waiting,
Longing for that joyous day
When, with banners, gayly streaming,
When with hearts so light and gay.
You'll return, brave Tommy Atkins,
To the dear old spot again,
From the battlefield so bloody,
O’er the wild and stormy main.
Here's three cheers for Tommy Atkins!
Though he's but a soldier chap.
Should you meet him in your rambles,
Just politely raise your hat.
And after John's death, the same newspaper re-printed a review of John's book 'A Merry Party', that had originally appeared in a Cornish newspaper in August 1920:
The Glen Innes Examiner. 24th October 1921. Page 6.
The Merry Party
===
Mr. John Rule’s book
---
A monumental work
In the last issue of the Examiner, we recorded the death of Mr. John Rule, one of the best known pioneers of the district. It is of interest, therefore, to publish the following extract from a Cornish paper of August last:-
Mr. John Rule, a native of Camborne, who has returned to Cornwall to spend the remainder of his life amid the old scenes, has lived many years in Australia and the United States. Years ago, we printed some poems from his pen in our common columns, and on occasions we heard from him when he was across the sea. We are very sorry to hear of his serious illness and tender him our best wishes, for he has always evinced a love of Cornwall, literature, knowledge and humanity.
Mr Rule has produced a unique book entitled ‘The Merry Party’ by “Uncle Silas”. It is a bound volume, but the contents are typewritten instead of printed, and the illustrations - photographs and drawings - are pasted in the book. The narrative gives us a number of stories told, songs sung and conversations chronicled by the Merry Party of Australians who met in America. The idea seems to have been inspired by the actual visit of Australian bank officials to the States, but at the end of the book, “Uncle Silas” reveals the fact that he had that he had dreamt all these happenings, which are set down as naturally as they might have been real incidents in the lives of real people. In fact, it is difficult to know where reality ends and fiction begins, for Mr. Rule has drawn on the doings of actual Australians who visited Washington DC, some of whom had sensational experiences while serving during the Great War.
It seems a pity that the volume should only exist in manuscript as it were, but if the cost of printing ‘The Merry Party’ is prohibitive at present, this unique volume will have a scarcity value and will be prized by the possessor.
We understand that Mr. Rule actually typed the book as well as being its author. It is a neat bit of work throughout; the narratives are interestingly told, and the account of the Australian Aborigines is illustrated with striking photographs.
Mr. Rowe was a member of the Writers League, when resident at Washington DC, and in April last, he gave an address at the Public Library in the on “The Private life of Henry Maitland”. He also read extracts from The Merry Party before the Writers League on July the 31st 1920 in the same city.
The book concludes with this quotation from our national Bard:
“We are such stuff as dreams are made of, and our little life is rounded with a sleep”.
Places in Camborne associated with John Rule include:
When John lived in Camborne between 1907 - 1912, he lived with his eldest sister, Susan, on Enys Road. But it seems he wasn't always at home; a notification from a local paper reports that:
On his return from America in mid-1921 in failing health, John stayed with his younger sister, Elizabeth (Susan having passed away) on Wesley Street, until his death.
North Parade is where John's younger half-brother lived with his mother, Mary, until her death in 1891, and where he subsequently lived with his wife and son.
References and Acknowledgements include:
+ Obituary of John Rule in the Glen Innes Examiner – Thursday 27th October 1921
+ Census information from Find My Past, accessed at Kresen Kernow, Redruth
+ Advertisement for John Rule & Co. in The Queenslander- Saturday 1st July, 1905
+ With thanks to Peter Williams, Tony Bennett, Spike Harwood & Karen Carmack Stadler for communications that improved the text.
Request a delivery of a token of remembrance to the resting place of John Rule, in St Meriadoc churchyard, Camborne: