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'{{For|the inaugural Bishop of Bathurst|Samuel Marsden (bishop)}} {{Use British English|date=June 2013}} {{Infobox clergy | name = 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 = {{death date and age|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 = 9<ref>http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/1m16/marsden-samuel</ref> | 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]]. Marsden was a prominent figure in [[History of New South Wales|early New South Wales]] and [[History of Australia|Australian]] history, partly through his ecclesiastical offices as the colony's senior Anglican cleric, but also for his employment of convicts for farming and his actions as a magistrate at [[Parramatta, New South Wales|Parramatta]], both of which 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). Marsden travelled by [[Convicts in Australia|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 Marsden succeeded Johnson and became the senior Anglican minister in New South Wales; he would keep this post until his death. Marsden was given grants of land by the colonial government and bought more of his own, which were worked with convict labour, a common practice in Australia at the time. By 1807 he owned {{convert|3000|acre|km2}} of land. Successful farming ventures provided him with a secure financial base, although they also formed a plank of contemporary criticism of Marsden for alleged over-involvement in non-church affairs.{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} In 1809, Marsden was the first to ship wool to England from Australia; he is believed to have later introduced sheep to [[New Zealand]], where he would develop a somewhat gentler reputation than in Australia. 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", with contemporaries claiming that he inflicted severe punishments (notably extended [[flogging]]s), even by the standards of his day. This view of Marsden 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}}. General [[Joseph Holt (rebel)|Joseph Holt]], transported to Australia for his involvement in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 United Irish Rebellion]], left an account of a severe flogging of two Irish convicts which was purportedly ordered by Marsden. However, 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> Marsden's attitudes to Irish Catholic convicts (including many who were transported to Australia for their role in the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|United Irish Rebellion]]) were illustrated in a memorandum which he sent to his Anglican church superiors during his time at Paramatta: {{cquote|"The number of Catholic Convicts is very great... and these in general composed of the lowest class of the Irish nation; who are the most wild, ignorant and savage Race that were ever favoured with the light of Civilization; men that have been familiar with ... every horrid Crime from their Infancy. Their minds being Destitute of every Principle of Religion & Morality render them capable of perpetrating the most nefarious Acts in cool Blood. As they never appear to reflect upon Consequences; but to be ... always alive to Rebellion and Mischief, they are very dangerous members of Society. No Confidence whatever can be placed in them... [If Catholicism in Australia] were tolerated they would assemble together from every Quarter, not so much from a desire of celebrating Mass, as to recite the Miseries and Injustice of their Banishment, the Hardships they suffer, and to enflame one another's minds with some wild Scheme of Revenge."<ref>Samuel Marsden, "A Few Observations on the Toleration of the Catholic Religion in New South Wales", memorandum, cited in Hughes, p. 188</ref>}} Despite Marsden's opposition to Catholicism being practiced in Australia, Governor Phillip Gidley King eventually permitted monthly Catholic masses at Sydney from May 1803 onwards, although these were to take place under police surveillance.<ref>Hughes, p. 190</ref> 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 1806 Marsden was the originator of the New South Wales "Female Register", which classed all women in the colony (excepting some widows) as either 'married' or 'concubine'. Only marriages within the Church of England, including those celebrated by Marsden, were recognized as legitimate on this list; women who married in Catholic or Jewish ceremonies were automatically classed as concubines. The document eventually circulated within influential circles in London, and is believed to have influenced contemporary views of the Australian colony as a land of sexual immorality, some of which survived into 20th century historiography.<ref>Hughes, pp. 247–248</ref> In 1822 Marsden was dismissed from his civil post as a Parramatta magistrate (along with several other officials) on charges of exceeding his jurisdiction. During his time at Parramatta, Marsden befriended many Māori visitors and sailors from New Zealand. He cared for them on his farm, providing accommodation, food, drink, work and an education for up to three years. He gave one Māori chief some land on which he could grow his own crops and taught other Māori to read and write English. He learnt Māori, beginning an English-Māori translation sheet of common words and expressions.<ref>He Korero. A Jones and K Jenkins. Huia 2011.</ref> ==Mission to New Zealand== ===Background=== Marsden was a member of the [[Church Missionary Society]] and remained formally based in New South Wales, but developed an interest in evangelizing [[New Zealand]] from the early 1800s onwards. 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, and ex-convicts who had served their sentences in Australia (as well as some who had escaped the Australian penal system). Marsden was concerned that they were corrupting the Māori way of life, and lobbied the Church Missionary Society successfully to send a mission to New Zealand.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Marsden|first1=Samuel|title=The Marsden Collection|url=https://marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/home|website=Marsden Online Archive|publisher=University of Otago|accessdate=18 May 2015}}</ref> ===First trip to New Zealand=== [[File:Rev. Samuel Marsden.jpg|thumb|right|Rev. Samuel Marsden, c.1809]] Lay missionaries John King, William Hall and [[Thomas Kendall]] were chosen for the New Zealand mission 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 during Christmas Day 1814. The service was spoken in English which was translated by [[Ruatara (chief)|Ruatara]] to the 400-strong Māori congregation. He met Māori [[rangatira]] (chiefs) from the [[Ngāpuhi]] [[iwi]] (tribe), who controlled the region around the Bay of Islands, including the 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2015}} ===Establishment of the mission=== 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]] (priest), and also flirted with [[Māori religion|Maori traditional religion]]. 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. Downie 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]], who gifted him a suit of armour; he also obtained further muskets when passing through Sydney on his return to New Zealand. On his return to the Bay of Islands, Ngāpuhi demanded the Church Missionary Society missionaries trade muskets for food, which under Kendall became an important means of support for the Kerikeri mission station. The trade was opposed by Marsden, largely because of its impact on the wide-ranging [[Musket Wars|inter-tribal warfare]] occurring amongst Māori at the time. For refusing to stop trading arms, Kendall was dismissed by the Church Missionary Society in 1822. Marsden, who also knew of Kendall's romantic 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. ===Legacy=== Marsden is generally remembered favourably in New Zealand, which he visited seven times (the longest trip lasting seven months). The Anglican school, [[Samuel Marsden Collegiate School]] in [[Karori]], [[Wellington]] and also (more recently) in [[Whitby, New Zealand|Whitby]], [[Porirua]] were named after Marsden. Houses at [[King's College, Auckland|King's College]] (Marsden House) and at [[Corran School for Girls]] (Marsden) are also both named after him. In 1819, Marsden introduced [[winegrowing]] to New Zealand with the planting of over 100 different varieties of vine in Kerikeri, Northland. He wrote: {{cquote|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<ref>{{cite web|last1=Marsden|first1=Samuel|title=Journal: Continuation of Reverend Samuel Marsden's Second Visit to New Zealand|url=https://marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/MS_0176_003#page/27/mode/1up/search/vine|website=Marsden Online Archive|publisher=University of Otago|accessdate=18 May 2015}}</ref>}} ==Later life== [[File:Memorial to Samuel Marsden (detail) - geograph.org.uk - 43911.jpg|thumbnail|A memorial to Marsden in Farsley]] 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 in the cemetery near 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> ==See also== *[[Paul-Antoine Léonard de Villefeix]] ==Notes== {{Reflist|30em}} ==References== * [[Robert Hughes (critic)|Hughes, Robert]] . [[The Fatal Shore|The Fatal Shore: A History of the Transportation of Convicts to Australia, 1787–1868]], ''Collins Harvill'', Great Britain, 1987. * [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/M/MarsdenSamuel/MarsdenSamuel/en Marsden, Samuel] in ''[[An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]]'' * [[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. * Quinn, Richard . Samuel Marsden: Altar Ego. ''Dunmore Publishing, Wellington'', September, 2008 * Reed, A. H. Samuel Marsden; Greatheart of Maoriland, ''Pickering and Inglis, London'', 1939 (Children's book) *{{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 }} *{{Australian Dictionary of Biography |last= Yarwood |first= A. T. |authorlink= |year= 1967 |id=A020176b |title= Marsden, Samuel (1765–1838) |accessdate=2008-04-07 }} ==External links== {{commons category|Samuel Marsden}} * [http://marsdenarchive.otago.ac.nz/home Marsden Online Archive], [[University of Otago]] * {{DNZB|title=Samuel Marsden biography|id=1M16|plainlink=y}} from the ''[[Dictionary of New Zealand Biography]]'' * {{Gutenberg author | id=Marsden,+Samuel | name=Samuel Marsden}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Samuel Marsden}} * [http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/object/76368?solrsort=score%20desc&search=Samuel%20Marsden/ A Short Account of the Character and Labours of The Rev Samuel Marsden] – National Museum of Australia * [http://collectionsearch.nma.gov.au/ce/Samuel%20Marsden#Samuel%20Marsden?object=71311&_suid=143217348551105512627098581573/ Samuel Marsden's Preaching Bands] – National Museum of Australia {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2010}} {{Protestant missions to Pacific Islands}} {{Authority control}} {{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 Anglican priests]] [[Category:Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge]] [[Category:Australian Anglican priests]] [[Category:People from Pudsey]] [[Category:Musket Wars]] [[Category:People from Parramatta]]'