William Marsh (1775–1864) was a British priest in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
and a writer of theological publications, in the 19th century. He was the vicar in St Peters, Colchester where his daughter,
Catherine Marsh, the writer was born.
Life
Early years
Marsh, third son of Catherine (born Case) and Colonel Sir Charles Marsh of
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
. He was born on 20 July 1775, and educated at the local Grammar school. He was moved by witnessing the sudden death of a young man in a ball-room and he decided to abandon a military career and become a cleric.
He matriculated from
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Edmund Hall (sometimes known as The Hall or informally as Teddy Hall) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The college claims to be "the oldest surviving academic society to house and educate undergraduates in any university ...
on 10 October 1797, graduated B.A. 1801,
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
1807, and
B.D. and
D.D.
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...
1839. At Christmas 1800 he was ordained to the curacy of St. Lawrence, Reading, and was soon known as an impressive preacher of evangelical doctrines.
[ ]
Life in the church
In 1801 Thomas Stonor, father of
Thomas, Lord Camoys, gave him the chapelry of
Nettlebed
Nettlebed is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire in the Chiltern Hills about northwest of Henley-on-Thames and southeast of Wallingford. The parish includes the hamlet of Crocker End, about east of the village. The 2011 Census recor ...
in Oxfordshire. His father presented him to the united livings of
Basildon
Basildon ( ) is the largest town in the borough of Basildon, within the county of Essex, England. It has a population of 107,123. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1159.
It lies east of Central London, south of the city of Chelmsford and ...
and
Ashampstead
Ashampstead is a small village and civil parish in the rural area between Reading, Newbury and Streatley in Berkshire, England. The parish population is about 400, occupying some 150 dwellings.
History
The village was called ''Esshamstede'' in ...
in Berkshire in 1802, when he resigned Nettlebed, but retained the curacy of St. Lawrence, which he served gratuitously for many years. The Rev.
Charles Simeon
Charles Simeon (24 September 1759 – 13 November 1836) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric.
Life and career
He was born at Reading, Berkshire, in 1759 and baptised at St Laurence's parish church on 24 October of that year. He was the ...
paid a first visit to Basildon in 1807, and was from that time a friend and correspondent of Marsh. In 1809, with the consent of his bishop, he became vicar of St. James's,
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, but the vicar of Brighton, Dr. R. C. Carr, afterwards
bishop of Worcester
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, refused his assent to this arrangement, and after some months Marsh resigned. Simeon presented him to St. Peter's,
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
, in 1814. His attention was early called by Simeon to the subject of the conversion of the Jews, and in 1818 he went with him to the
Netherlands
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, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
to enquire into their condition in that country.
Ill-health obliged him in 1829 to leave Colchester, and in October of the same year he accepted the rectory of St. Thomas,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, where from the frequent subject of his sermons he came to be known as 'Millennial Marsh'. Early in 1837 he was appointed principal official and commissary of the royal peculiar of the deanery of
Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079.
History
B ...
; and in 1839, finally leaving Birmingham, he became incumbent of St. Mary,
Leamington.
Later years and legacy
From 1848 he was an honorary canon of
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
, and from 1860 to his death rector of
Beddington
Beddington is a suburban settlement in the London Borough of Sutton on the boundary with the London Borough of Croydon. Beddington is formed from a village of the same name which until early the 20th century still included land which became t ...
, Surrey. Few men preached a greater number of sermons. His conciliatory manners gained him friends among all denominations. He died at Beddington rectory on 24 August 1864. He was married three times: first, in November 1806, to Maria, daughter of Mr. Tilson—she died 24 July 1833; secondly, on 21 April 1840, to Lady Louisa, third daughter of
Charles, first earl of Cadogan—she died in August 1843; thirdly, on 3 March 1848, to the Honourable Louisa Horatia Powys, seventh daughter of Thomas,
baron Lilford
Baron Lilford, of Lilford in the County of Northampton, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1797 for Thomas Powys, who had previously represented Northamptonshire in the House of Commons. His grandson, the third Baron, ...
.
Mackenzie Dalzell Chalmers
Sir Mackenzie Dalzell Edwin Stewart Chalmers (7 February 1847 – 22 December 1927) was a British judge and civil servant. He was Parliamentary Counsel to the Treasury, a judge of the county courts and a Law Member of the Viceroy's Council in Ind ...
was his grandson. He had five children and the fourth
Catherine Marsh lived with him. She would write his biography and before he died she began her success as a published author.
[
]
Works
Besides numerous addresses, lectures, single sermons, speeches, introductions, and prefaces, Marsh printed:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mars, William
English Anglicans
1775 births
1864 deaths