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'{{For|the inaugural Bishop of Bathurst|Samuel Marsden (bishop)}} {{Use British English|date=June 2013}} {{Infobox clergy | name = The Reverend Samuel Marsden | image =Samuel marsden.jpg | image_size = <!-- Default is 225px --> | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1764|7|28|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Farsley]], Yorkshire | death_date = {{dda|1838|5|12|1764|7|28|df=y}} | death_place = [[Windsor, New South Wales]] | church = [[Church of England]] | other_names = | education = [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]] | ordained = May 1793 | writings = | congregations = | offices_held = | title = | spouse = | children = | parents = | footnotes = }} {{more footnotes|date=June 2010}} '''Samuel Marsden''' (28 June 1764 – 12 May 1838) was an English born [[Anglican]] [[cleric]] and a prominent member of the [[Church Missionary Society]], believed to have introduced Christianity to [[New Zealand]]. He was a prominent figure in early [[New South Wales]] history in [[Australia]], not only for his ecclesiastical offices, but also for his employment of convicts for farming and his role as a judge, both of which have attracted contemporary criticism.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} ==Early life== Marsden was born in [[Farsley]], near [[Pudsey]], [[Yorkshire]] in England, the son of a Wesleyan blacksmith turned farmer. After attending the village school, he spent some years assisting his father on the farm. In his early twenties, he won a scholarship from the Elland Clerical Society to train as an Anglican priest. After two years at free grammar school he attended [[Magdalene College, Cambridge]],<ref>{{acad|id=MRSN790S|name=Marsden, Samuel}}</ref> where he was associated with the reformist [[William Wilberforce]]. While still studying, Marsden was offered the position of second chaplain to the [[Richard Johnson (chaplain)| Reverend Richard Johnson]]'s ministry to the British colony of New South Wales on 1 January 1793. He married Elizabeth Fristan on 21 April 1793 and the following month was ordained by the [[Bishop of Exeter]] (having abandoned his degree). He travelled by convict ship to Australia, his eldest child Anne being born en route. Shortly after arrival in 1794 he set up house in [[Parramatta]], {{convert|15|mi|km}} outside the main [[Port Jackson]] settlement. ==In Australia== In 1800 he succeeded Johnson and remained the senior Anglican minister in New South Wales until his death. Marsden was given grants of land by the colonial government and bought more of his own, which were worked, as was customary in Australia in the period, with convict labour. By 1807 he owned {{convert|3000|acre|km2}}. Successful farming ventures provided him with a secure financial base, although attracting criticism for his becoming over-involved in non-church affairs.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} During his time at Parramatta, Marsden befriended many Maori visitors and sailors from New Zealand. He cared for them at on his farm, providing accommodation, food, drink, work and an education for up to three years. He gave one Maori chief some land on which he could grow his own crops. He taught Maori to read and write English. He learnt Maori, beginning an English-Maori translation sheet of common words and expressions.<ref>He Korero. A Jones and K Jenkins. Huia 2011.</ref> Marsden was appointed to the Bench of Magistrates at [[Parramatta, New South Wales|Parramatta]], a role that attracted criticism in his lifetime. History has remembered Marsden as the "Flogging Parson" because, even by the standards of his day, he inflicted severe punishments. This view is disputed in some circles as part of an anti-clerical writing of history, in turn attributed to a dislike of [[Roman Catholic]]s and the Irish.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} The [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 United Irish Rebellion]] General [[Joseph Holt (rebel)|Joseph Holt]] left an account of a flogging purportedly ordered by Marsden. Holt never explicitly links Marsden to the flogging, and a careful reading of his memoirs shows the flogging of Fitzgerald was ordered in Sydney by the Judge Advocate, though later carried out in Parramatta.<ref>Joseph Holt, Thomas Crofton Croker (ed.), ''Memoirs of Joseph Holt: General of the Irish Rebels, in 1798'' (London: H. Colburn, 1838), vol II, at pp. 119-122.[http://books.google.com.au/books?id=m-8vAAAAMAAJ]</ref> In 1822 Marsden, along with several other magistrates at Parramatta, was dismissed for exceeding his jurisdiction. Early in 1804, Marsden christened the one-year-old George Lilly in [[St John's Cathedral, Parramatta]]. Lilly later became the noted pioneer of Melbourne, Portland and Auckland. In 1809, he was the first to ship wool to England from Australia and is believed to have introduced sheep to [[New Zealand]] where he has a gentler reputation. ==Mission to New Zealand== Marsden was a member of the [[Church Missionary Society]] and remained based in New South Wales. Europeans had known of [[New Zealand]] since the 1640s and by the early 19th century there had been increasing contact between [[Māori people|Māori]] and Europeans, mainly by the many whalers and sealers around the coast of New Zealand and especially in the Bay of Islands. A small community of Europeans had formed in the [[Bay of Islands]] made up of explorers, flax traders, timber merchants, seamen, ex convicts who had served their sentence and some escaped convicts. Marsden was concerned that they were corrupting the Māori way of life and became determined to found a mission station in New Zealand. Marsden lobbied the Church Missionary Society successfully to send a mission to New Zealand. Lay missionaries John King, William Hall and [[Thomas Kendall]] were chosen in 1809, but it was not until 14 November 1814 <ref>Source: J.R. Elder, ed., ''The Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden 1765-1838'', Dunedin: Coulls Somerville Wilkie, 1932, pp.93-94.></ref> that Marsden took his brig, the "Active" (captained by Thomas Hansen), on an exploratory journey to the [[Bay of Islands]] with Kendall and Hall, during which time he conducted the first Christian service on New Zealand soil on Christmas Day 1814 in English which was translated by Ruatara to the 400 strong congregation. He met Māori [[Rangatira]], or chiefs from the [[Ngāpuhi]] [[iwi]] or tribe, who controlled the region around the Bay of Islands, including the chief [[Ruatara (chief)|Ruatara]]who had lived with him in Australia, and a junior war leader, [[Hongi Hika]], who had helped pioneer the introduction of the musket to Māori warfare in the previous decade. Hongi Hika returned with them to Australia on 22 August. At the end of the year Kendall, Hall and King returned to start a mission to the Ngāpuhi under Ruatara's (and, later, Hongi Hika's) protection in the Bay of Islands. Hongi Hika returned with them, bringing a large number of firearms from Australia for his warriors. A mission station was founded with a base at [[Rangihoua Bay]], later moved to [[Kerikeri]], (where the [[Mission House|mission house]] and [[Stone Store|stone store]] can still be seen), and ultimately a model farming village at [[Te Waimate mission|Te Waimate]]. The mission would struggle on for a decade before attracting converts, in competition with Wesleyan and Catholic missions. Thomas Kendall abandoned his wife for the daughter of a Māori [[tohunga]] or priest, also flirted with [[Māori religion]] as well as funding the mission in part through helping to arm Hongi Hika's Ngāpuhi. The Rev. Marsden was in the Bay of Islands in May 1820 when [[HMS Malabar (1804)|HMS ''Coromandel'']] under the command of Captain Downie, arrived at the [[Bay of Islands]] from England for the purpose of procuring a cargo of timber in the [[Firth of Thames]]. When ''Coromandel'' sailed for the Thames a few days later, Reverend Marsden accompanied them on their voyage. Captain Downie of [[HMS Malabar (1804)|HMS ''Coromandel'']] reported that while at the Bay of Islands whalers were in the practice of trading muskets and ammunition for pork and potatoes.<ref name="ESNZC">{{cite web| last = | first = | work=Early shipping in New Zealand waters|title= ''HMS Coromandel''|date =|url= http://www.myancestorsstory.com/shiplist_05.html#coromandel | accessdate=10 November 2013}}</ref> In 1820 Hongi Hika and [[Thomas Kendall]] travelled to England on the [[whaling ship]] the ''New Zealander''.<ref name="ESnz">{{cite web| last = | first = | work=Early shipping in New Zealand waters|title= ''New Zealander'' |date =|url=http://www.myancestorsstory.com/shiplist_16.html#newzealander| accessdate=10 November 2013}}</ref> Hongi Hika met [[George IV of the United Kingdom|King George IV]]. When Hongi Hika passed through Sydney on his return to New Zealand, he acquired muskets. In the Bay of Islands the Ngāpuhi demanded the CMS Missionaries trade muskets for food. However the Rev. Marsden wanted to end this trade because of the impact of the [[Musket Wars]], which is the name given to inter-tribal fighting in which the Māori used the muskets. For refusing to stop trading arms, Kendall was dismissed by the Church Missionary Society in 1822. Marsden, who knew of Kendall's affair, returned to New Zealand in August 1823 to sack him in person. When Marsden and Kendall sailed from the Bay of Islands, their ship the ''Brampton'' was wrecked.<ref name="ESNZB">{{cite web| last = | first = | work=Early shipping in New Zealand waters|title= ''Brampton''|date =|url= http://www.myancestorsstory.com/shiplist_03.html| accessdate=10 November 2013}}</ref> Marsden later went to some trouble talking to all Australian printers to prevent Kendall from publishing a Māori grammar book, apparently largely out of spite. Despite this, Marsden is generally remembered favourably in New Zealand, which he visited seven times. The Anglican school, [[Samuel Marsden Collegiate School]] in [[Karori]], [[Wellington]] and also (more recently) in [[Whitby, New Zealand|Whitby]], [[Porirua]] were named after Marsden. A house at [[King's College, Auckland|King's College]] (Marsden House) is named after him. Also, a house at [[Corran School for Girls]] (Marsden) is also named after him. In 1819 Samuel Marsden introduced [[winegrowing]] to New Zealand with the planting of over 100 different varieties of vine in Kerikeri, Northland. He wrote: <blockquote>"New Zealand promises to be very favourable to the vine as far as I can judge at present of the nature of the soil and climate"</blockquote> Altogether Marsden made seven visits to New Zealand over many years - the longest trip being seven months. ==Later life== It was on Marsden's last visit to the Reverend Henry Stiles at St Matthew's Church at [[Windsor, New South Wales|Windsor]] when he succumbed to an incipient chill and died at the rectory on May the 12th in 1838.<ref>A T Yarwood, Samuel Marsden: the great survivor, CarIton 1977, 279</ref> Marsden is buried beside his old church at Parramatta, St John's.<ref>http://english.stjohnscathedral.org.au/index.php/about-us-/our-heritage#cemetery</ref> ==In fiction and popular culture== The Australian poet [[Kenneth Slessor]] wrote a satirical poem criticizing the reverend, ''[[Vesper-Song of the Reverend Samuel Marsden]]''.<ref>[http://allpoetry.com/poem/8521579-Vesper-Song-Of-The-Reverend-Samuel-Marsden-by-Kenneth-Slessor - Vesper-Song of the Reverend Samuel Marsden] ''allpoetry.com''</ref> A portrait of Marsden based on [[Robert Hughes (critic)|Robert Hughes]]' ''[[The Fatal Shore]]'' appears in [[Patrick O'Brian]]'s book ''[[The Nutmeg of Consolation]]''. In the 1978 Australian television series ''[[Against the Wind (TV series)|Against the Wind]]'', Marsden was portrayed by David Ravenswood. Reggae band [[1814 (band)|1814]] took their name from the year that Marsden held the first sermon in the [[Bay of Islands]].<ref>[http://www.niceup.org.nz/news/1814 1814 - Reggae runnings in Aotearoa, New Zealand] ''niceup.org.nz''</ref> ==References== *[http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/M/MarsdenSamuel/MarsdenSamuel/en Marsden, Samuel] in ''[[An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]]'' *{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last= Yarwood |first= A. T. |authorlink= |year=1967 |id=A020176b |title= Marsden, Samuel (1765 - 1838) |accessdate=2008-04-07 }} *{{cite web | first=Percival | last=Serle | title =Marsden, Samuel (1764 - 1838) | publisher =[[Project Gutenberg Australia]] | work=[[Dictionary of Australian Biography]] | url =http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogMa-Mo.html#marsden1 | accessdate = 2008-04-07 }} * Quinn, Richard . Samuel Marsden: Altar Ego. ''Dunmore Publishing, Wellington'', September, 2008 * [[John Buxton Marsden|Marsden, Rev. J. B.]] (Ed.). Memoirs of the Life and Labours of the Rev. Samuel Marsden of Parramatta. ''The Religious Tract Society'', London, 1858. * Reed, A. H. Samuel Marsden; Greatheart of Maoriland, ''Pickering and Inglis, London'', 1939 (Children's book) ==External links== {{DNZB|title=Samuel Marsden biography|id=1M16|plainlink=y}} from the ''[[Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]]'' ==Notes== {{Reflist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2010}} {{Protestant missions to Pacific Islands}} {{Authority control|VIAF=56328063}} {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME =Marsden, Samuel | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Australian priest | DATE OF BIRTH =28 July 1764 | PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Farsley]], Yorkshire | DATE OF DEATH =12 May 1838 | PLACE OF DEATH =[[Windsor, New South Wales]] }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsden, Samuel}} [[Category:Settlers of Australia]] [[Category:1764 births]] [[Category:1838 deaths]] [[Category:English clergy]] [[Category:Australian Anglicans]] [[Category:Australian religious leaders]] [[Category:Anglican priests]] [[Category:People from Pudsey]] [[Category:Musket Wars]] [[Category:People from Parramatta]]'