Herbert J Rumsey is one of a very few Tallong residents to have an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography. Born in 1866 in England, to John Herbert Rumsey and his wife Mary Ann, he arrived in Australia with his parents and sister in 1872. The family settled in Sydney where his father taught physics and electricity at Sydney Technical College and was responsible for installing the first electric lighting on the North Shore. After his schooling was completed, Herbert was apprenticed to a plumber and later became a printer and bookseller.

After retiring due to ill-health, John Herbert took up a selection at Barber's Creek (as Tallong was then known), a property he called Stoneleigh located off Caoura Road. It was here that by 1895, Herbert started a nursery and seed business. In 1901, however he moved his operations to Dundas, though he retained his interest in the Barber's Creek district all his life though his involvement in the property Tyrol, off Badgery's Lookout Road, which was owned by his younger brother Arthur.

Herbert was a prolific letter writer. The Colonial Secretary's Office must have groaned when another letter from him landed on their desks (or was published in the newspapers). He was secretary of the Barber's Creek Progress Committee, secretary of the Freetrade and Liberal Committee and secretary of the committee formed to push for the Barber's Creek district to be considered as the site for the federal capital.

Rumsey pushed for the establishment of a wild life sanctuary named the Tallowa Reserve, between the Kangaroo and Shoalhaven Rivers which later became part of the Morton National Park. He heavily promoted the idea of planting native plants and wildflowers in the garden, but was also a regular contributor to the newspapers on growing fruit and vegetables, including the value of crimson clover to restore the fertility of worn out soil.

With his thinking often ahead of his time, Herbert Rumsey had great plans for the Barber's Creek area. Postal records held by the National Library of Australia include a letter from him written in September 1895 calling for a new name for the tiny settlement stating that: "the place will have to have a name sometime and the sooner it has one the less inconvenience will be caused." One of his suggestions was "Medina" - being "suggestive of the crowds we hope to see some day coming on health-seeking pilgrimages".

Rumsey always had an interest in history and genealogy and in 1932, was elected a fellow of the Society of Genealogists, London. Rumsey was the principal founder in 1932 and first president (until 1943) of the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney. Unfortunately conflict within the organisation led to him leaving the society and the loss of his fellowship in 1943.

His book "Pioneers of Sydney Cove", produced as a limited edition in 1937, achieved some notoriety when the official NSW sesquicentenary celebrations in 1938 proceeded without reference to convicts. Rumsey campaigned tirelessly in the press to change this attitude.

Herbert J Rumsey died at Dundas on February 1, 1956. Truly a remarkable man. Rumseys Seeds Ltd was sold to Arthur Yates and Co. Pty Ltd in 1966.