Charles Latimer Marson (16 May 1859 – 3 March 1914) was an influential figure in the second wave of
Christian socialism in England in the 1880s. Later between 1903 and 1906 he collaborated with his good friend
Cecil Sharp
Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...
in the collection and publication of ''Folk Songs from Somerset vols. 1-3'', which contributed greatly to the first
British folk revival
The British folk revival incorporates a number of movements for the collection, preservation and performance of folk music in the United Kingdom and related territories and countries, which had origins as early as the 18th century. It is particul ...
.
Education and training
Marson's formative years were spent in
Clevedon
Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...
in Somerset where his father was the vicar of St Andrew's Church from 1871 till his death in 1895. Marson attended Clifton College and then
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...
. Brought up as a strict evangelical, he lost his faith initially but found new direction when working as a volunteer (and then as a curate) under the Rev
Samuel Barnett at St Jude's
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
between December 1881 and April 1884.
This close engagement with East End poverty – the overcrowded and squalid housing, the casual and ‘sweated’ labour, the workhouses and the inadequate charity provision – affected Marson deeply and led him to Christian socialism. He was inspired by the various clubs and schemes at work in the parish – e.g. adult education classes, Mothers’ meetings, youth clubs, work placements. Barnett was at that time developing his ideas of the University Settlement, where students would live and work alongside the poor. The first of these settlements was Toynbee Hall, founded at St Jude's in 1884.
Journalism and writing
While at Whitechapel, Marson began writing articles and reviews for the
Pall Mall Gazette
''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed in ...
and was offered a job (which he declined) alongside
William Thomas Stead
William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst e ...
and
Edward Tyas Cook on its staff. His acerbic wit and easy facility with words ensured a steady stream of work with various publications throughout his clerical career, supplementing his modest stipend.
In September 1884 Marson took over as Editor of the ''Christian Socialist'' monthly newspaper. This networking tool of the burgeoning socialist groups provided political comment, notices of public meetings, reviews of books and pamphlets etc. Its circulation increased markedly under Marson's leadership until he relinquished the role in December 1886.
It was during this time that Marson developed a close friendship with
Edith Nesbit
Edith Nesbit (married name Edith Bland; 15 August 1858 – 4 May 1924) was an English writer and poet, who published her books for children as E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on more than 60 such books. She was also a political activist a ...
, who submitted some of her early poems to his paper. Marson practised his children's stories with Nesbit's children and he collaborated with her in one of her short stories ''Man-size in Marble''. He was to publish his own original children's stories in 1891 in Australia.
It was through Edith Nesbit that Marson joined the
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...
in November 1885. He remained a member until 1913.
Christian Socialist Groups
Marson met the radical priest Rev
Stewart Headlam
Stewart Duckworth Headlam (1847–1924) was an English Anglican priest who was involved in frequent controversy in the final decades of the nineteenth century. Headlam was a pioneer and publicist of Christian socialism, on which he wrote a pamphl ...
in the early 1880s and quickly joined the
Guild of St Matthew
The Guild of St Matthew was an English high-church Christian socialist association led by Stewart Headlam from its establishment in Bethnal Green on 29 June 1877 when Headlam was Curate at St Matthew's to its dissolution in 1909. While the guild ...
, which Headlam had started in 1877. The Guild is regarded by many as the first socialist group of all. Initially the Guild chided the established church for its complacency and reluctance to tackle social issues. It particularly espoused
Anglo-Catholic
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches.
The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...
ritual (sacraments, vestments, drama, stained glass) as the better way to reach out to the poor and illiterate. From 1884 through its monthly newspaper ''The Church Reformer'', the Guild promoted a single tax on land values (as advocated by the American
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
) to fund a campaign against poverty and city slums. Marson joined the Guild's Council and was both supportive and critical of the Guild's progress until its demise in 1909.
In late 1885 Marson founded the Christian Socialist Society with the help of two laymen, WHP Campbell and the Fabian Alfred Howard. Its manifesto, published in May 1886, appealed to a broader base of inter-denominational clergy and lay people alike. After initial success, the Society faltered when Marson left for Australia in 1889 and it folded in 1892.
When the
Christian Social Union was started in 1889, Marson was prepared to preach sermons and write articles for its publication ‘Commonwealth’ but felt that, though it claimed a membership of 5,000 and counted many bishops among its members, it was a ‘milk and water’ organisation.
He preferred to put his weight behind the Christian Socialist League, another attempt (in 1894) at an ecumenical socialist group led by the Baptist John Clifford. Marson served on the Executive until its demise in 1898.
The final group that Marson joined was the Church Socialist League (1909–23). Although it drew most of its support from the north of England, Marson knew several of its leaders well – WE Moll (with whom he had worked at a Soho parish);
Conrad Noel
Conrad le Despenser Roden Noel (12 July 1869 – 22 July 1942) was an English priest of the Church of England. Known as the 'Red Vicar' of Thaxted, he was a prominent Christian socialist.
Early life
Noel was born on 12 July 1869 in Royal Cottage, ...
and
Percy Dearmer
Percival Dearmer (1867–1936) was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of ''The Parson's Handbook'', a liturgical manual for Anglican clergy, and as editor of ''The English Hymnal''. A lifelong socialist, he was an early ad ...
(personal friends); and Percy Widdrington (Marson's private pupil in 1896).
These various Christian Socialist groups ran parallel to secular groups like Henry Hyndman's
Social Democratic Federation (1881), William Morris's
Socialist League (1884) and the Fabian Society. It is debatable first how successful the Christian Socialists were in effecting changes of attitude and policy within the Church. Rev Percy Widdrington, looking back in 1945, wrote: ’The poverty of the people and the degradation which resulted from it were the motives that impelled us to action. To expect any move from the official Church would have been fantastic. It was as complacent and smug as the rest of society.' Secondly it can be argued that because of their failure to engage with the trades unions and the working man, these Christian Socialist groups never received enough credit for their contribution to the intellectual debates of the late Victorian era, especially when the
Labour Party broke through in the General Election of 1906.
Clerical career
Largely because of his outspoken socialist views, Marson led a chequered career within the Church of England. Ill health due to his chronic asthma in the London smog also disrupted several postings. After Whitechapel, he went to Petersham in South London but was inhibited (suspended) after delivering a controversial sermon on the Ascension in May 1884. He held several short-lived posts in London parishes but his longest stints were as Rector of Orlestone in Kent for three years (1886–89) and as vicar of Hambridge (1893
-1914).
Australia
In April 1889 Marson became engaged to Clotilda (Chloe) Bayne, sister of his old university friend Ronald Bayne. She was one of the early students at Newnham College, Cambridge and a good friend of
Philippa Fawcett. Seeking a fresh start in life, Marson then went out by ship to
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, South Australia in June 1889 to be curate at St Peter's Glenelg and Chloe followed a year later to marry him.
At Glenelg and then at Parkside (a city suburb), Marson continued to be controversial, speaking out against the treatment of the Aborigines and in favour of social reforms. He supported Lucy Morice in her push for Votes for Women. In October 1891 he set up the first overseas branch of the Fabian Society, drawing in trade unionists like David Charleston, Robert Guthrie and John McPherson. In July 1889 Marson met Cecil Sharp, who had first arrived in Adelaide in November 1882 and was now a co-Director of the Adelaide College of Music. They became friends. In August 1889 Marson delivered a public lecture on ‘Folk Ballads’. In November 1891 he published his first book Faery Stories, the same month that his first child Mary was born.
Folk songs
In 1892 both Marson and Sharp returned to England, settling near each other in north London. In August 1893 Marson officiated at Sharp's wedding to Miss Constance Birch and was godfather to the first child Dorothea the following year. In May 1894 Marson did much practical help for the London Cabbies’ Strike. Marson then had to leave London with more ill health in 1895 to become vicar of Hambridge in South Somerset. Sharp was working by now as a music teacher at Ludgrove School, where he was keen to find interesting songs for his pupils to sing. In August 1903 Marson invited Sharp to visit him during his school holidays, whereupon Sharp notated John England (Marson's gardener) singing the folk song ‘
The Seeds of Love
''The Seeds of Love'' is the third studio album by British pop rock band Tears for Fears, released on 25 September 1989 by Fontana Records. It retained the band's epic sound while incorporating influences ranging from jazz and soul to Beatlesque ...
’. Sharp was introduced by Marson to
Lucy Anna White who is credited with shaping Sharp's objectives as initially he was unsure as to what made a song a foll song.
[
During the next three years travelling around by bicycle and train, Marson and Sharp collected 977 tunes or texts of folk songs, publishing 79 in three volumes of ''Folk Songs from Somerset''. Sharp undoubtedly did most of the leg work (he was on holiday) but Marson was knowledgeable about folk songs with a handy library of reference books and great enthusiasm for the project. Sharp undertook the piano arrangements, while Marson was the lyrics editor.
Marson contributed much to the partnership.][ He introduced Sharp to 15 of his own parishioners, who sang over 140 songs; he provided a base from which Sharp could move about the neighbouring villages; he knew many clergymen in the area, who could also offer accommodation and locate potential singers. In contrast to other collectors like Sabine Baring-Gould, they were particularly successful with women singers – 474 songs (48.5% of total). Sharp used Somerset songs both in his school work and in his public lectures, as he mounted a press campaign to rescue English folk song from oblivion.
Unfortunately the two men quarrelled in November 1906 and their 17-year friendship came to an end. Sharp went on to become an authority on folk music and dance. Marson resumed his writing and parish work but died suddenly of ‘]angina pectoris
Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease.
Angina is typically the result of obstru ...
’ in March 1914 aged 54. His son, John Charles Marson, was killed, aged 19, at Suvla Bay, Turkey, on 8 August 1915. John Charles Marson is remembered at Sherborne School
(God and My Right)
, established = 705 by Aldhelm,
re-founded by King Edward VI 1550
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent, boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, chair_label = Chairman of the governors
...
in the Book of Remembrance John Charles Marson, ''Sherborne School Book of Remembrance''
/ref> and by the Marson Prize founded by Mrs Clotilda Marson in his memory.
Selected bibliography
Marson wrote nine books in total as well as two significant articles published in ''The Commonwealth'' magazine - "Huppim & Muppim" (1901) was a biting comment on unimaginative Religious Education in schools; "And Ard" was equally mordant on the inadequate recruitment, training and role of the clergy in the modern world.
* 1891 ''Faery Stories''. E. A. Petherick, Adelaide - nine original children's stories
* 1894 ''Psalms at Work''. Elliot Stock - commentary for clergy and lay people
* 1895 ''The Following of Christ''. Elliot Stock - selection of thoughtful poetry and prose
* 1897 ''Turnpike Tales''. Elkin Mathews - short psychological stories
* 1901 ''Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln''. Edward Arnold - short biography of Bishop Hugh (1140-1200)
* 1905 ''Super Flumina''. John Lane - book about fishing (Marson was a keen angler)
* 1909 ''Glastonbury''. Gregory - Guide to the Somerset town
* 1914 ''Village Silhouettes''. Society of SS. Peter & Paul - appreciation of village life
* 1914 ''God’s Co-operative Society''. Longman - summary of his thoughts on Church and Society
References
External links
Bibliographic directory
from Project Canterbury
Biographical website
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marson, Charles
1859 births
1914 deaths
Anglo-Catholic socialists
English folk-song collectors
Anglo-Catholic writers
English Anglo-Catholics
English Christian socialists
Members of the Fabian Society