The Sydney Family Album — 2 — Samuel Marsden

The second post in this series comes from guest blogger David Pettett:

The Rev. Samuel Marsden, second Chaplain to the Colony of NSW, was born in Farsley, Yorkshire on 25 June 1765. He was brought up under a Methodist and Evangelical influence and came under the patronage of the evangelical Elland Society which provided for his education from Grammar School to Magdalene College, Cambridge University, the centre of Evangelical influence at the time.

He was appointed second Chaplain to the Colony of NSW, arriving in 1794 with the backing of the Rev. Charles Simeon, William Wilberforce and the Rev. John Newton.

Marsden saw his first priority to be a preacher of the Word of God. He was horrified at the immorality in the Colony and set about calling men and women to repentance and faith. His priorities brought him into conflict with the Authorities who saw his role as simply a keeper of morals.

Marsden also found himself in great conflict within the Colony over his role as a Magistrate, from which he earned the epithet, ‘the flogging parson’. He threw himself with great energy into the development of the Colony, becoming a successful and wealthy farmer and trader.

At the same time Marsden was instrumental in the establishment of the Benevolent Society, the NSW Agricultural Society, and the colonial branches of the Bible Society, the London Missionary Society and the Church Missionary Society. He made seven journeys to New Zealand, preaching the first Christian sermon there on Christmas Day 1814. He is known in New Zealand as ‘The Apostle to the Maori’.

In his preaching Marsden was not afraid to be direct in calling for repentance. ‘Some of you are on your way to Hell with a Bible in your hand’, is one memorable line when pointing out to his congregation that the form of religion would not save them.

In one famous sermon preached in 1815, for which he was publicly rebuked by Gov. Macquarie who clearly misunderstood the intent of the sermon, Marsden drew attention to drought, failing crops, dying cattle and the death of the Judge Advocate, as being signs of God’s anger, and he encouraged his congregation to examine themselves and repent of any sin, in the hope that God would have mercy upon them and relieve their suffering.

Marsden recruited other evangelical clergy for the Colony, notably the Revs. William Cowper and Robert Cartwright. He was criticised by Bishop Broughton for being too ‘Methodistical’ in his preaching but in his energies, focus and strategic thinking, Marsden clearly set an evangelical agenda for those who would follow him.

Thanks David for helping us to remember a very important member of the family.

Image: The Rev Samuel Marsden, circa 1809. Cropped from the original scan of an engraving by James Fittler. Thanks to Hocken Collections University of Otago. Accession Number 23,602.