Samuel Marsden

Preacher, Pastor, Magistrate & Missionary

David B Pettett

• Publisher: Bolt Publishing Services Pty. Ltd.
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9780994634917
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

Samuel Marsden. Preacher, Pastor, Magistrate & Missionary is anaccount of the life of Rev Samuel Marsden (1765-1838), second Chaplain to New South Wales, illuminated by his sermons. Author: David B. Pettett.

Influenced by his Methodist roots and by members of the Evangelical Party in the Church of England, especially Rev Charles Simeon of Cambridge, Samuel Marsden was appointed the second Chaplain to the Penal Colony of New South Wales. His Christian supporters saw him as the second Missionary to the South Seas, after RevRichard Johnson. Part of his duties involved presiding as a magistrate, which became one of the causes of long-standing controversy around his name.

Marsden's missionary concerns included some frustratingefforts to take the gospel to the indigenous people of New South Wales, and an important role in encouraging the missionaries of the London Missionary Societyand overseeingtheirmission in Tahiti. However, Marsden's great passion was to reach the Maori of New Zealand. After years of preparation, he commenced the ministry of some lay settlers of theChurch Missionary Society with a sermon preached in the Bay of Islandson Christmas Day 1814. He actively supported this mission until he died.

In New South Wales Marsden fell out of favour with Governor Lachlan Macquarie, especially after a sermon he preached on the death of Judge-Advocate Ellis Bent in 1815. An earlier controversy had arisen with the Governor's Colonial Secretary, who wrote an article attackingMarsden and his missionary enterprises under the pseudonym 'Philo Free'. Marsden charged him with libel, the first such action in New South Wales.

Throughout his life in New South Wales, Marsden was Pastor and Preacher at St John's Church, Parramatta. His sermons show his concern for the people of New South Wales amongst the difficulties and temptations presented by its nature as a brutal Penal Colony.

Despite his human weaknesses, and despite the controversies that surround him, Marsden's sermons show a man who saw himself as a servant of Jesus Christ, seeking to point others to Jesus Christ, so that they might not only live well in the present age, but also have a share in the kingdom of God yet to come.

David Pettett's brief account of Samuel Marsden is well-researched. Previous scholarship has largely ignored Marsden's sermons. By paying attention to his preaching, Marsden's life is illuminated and some of the controversies surrounding him receive nuance, or even correction.

Samuel marsden
Preacher, pastor, magistrate and missionary

David B. Pettett

Samuel Marsden.

Preacher, Pastor, Magistrate and Missionary

Studies in Australian Colonial History (ISSN 1834-6936) No. 5

© David B. Pettett 2016

Bolt Publishing Services Pty. Ltd.

ABN 89 123 024 920

PO Box 147

Camperdown NSW 1450

www.boltpublishing.com.au

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry (pbk)

Creator: Pettett, David B., author.

Title: Samuel Marsden : preacher, pastor, magistrate and missionary / David B. Pettett.

ISBN: 978-0-9946349-1-7 (e-version)

Series: Studies in Australian colonial history; 5,

Notes: Includes bibliographical references.

Subjects: Marsden, Samuel, 1765-1838.

Church of England—Clergy—Biography.

Clergy—New South Wales—Biography.

Police magistrates—New South Wales—Biography.

Missionaries—New Zealand—Biography.

Missionaries—Tahiti—Biography.

Australia—History—1788-1900.

Dewey Number: 266.0092

Cover design and layout by Lankshear Design.

Printed by Ingram Spark Lightning Source.

Publisher’s Preface

Many of the untold stories in Australian Colonial History belong to Christian people who, with all their strengths and weaknesses, contributed greatly to the building of Australian Society. Before readily available and multiform media, the regular weekly sermon preached on Sundays and at weekly prayer meetings was an important part of the living communication that regularly shaped such people.

Although the number of sermons preached in the English penal colony of New South Wales can be estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands, historians of the Australian Colonial period are only just beginning to explore the value of these sermons for understanding some of the social realities of our past.1

In this context, David Pettett provides a new and welcome contribution to understanding Rev Samuel Marsden, a colourful figure already of interest to Australian historians, under the illumination provided by Marsden’s surviving sermons. Well aware of Marsden’s human faults, this brief account corrects previous errors, and shows a man dedicated to the service of Jesus Christ for the benefit of early Australasia.

Peter G. Bolt, August 2016

See M. Gladwin, ‘Preaching and Australian public life: 1788–1914’, Preaching Before a Watching World, St Mark’s Review, 227 (Feb, 2014), 1–14 (especially pp.2-3, 10); and the collection of articles published in Preaching and Sermons in Australian History Since 1788, St Mark’s Review, 230 (Dec, 2014).

Studies in Australian Colonial History
ISSN 1834-6936

1. Peter G. Bolt, Thomas Moore of Liverpool (1762–1840): One of Our Oldest Colonists. Essays & Addresses to Celebrate 150 Years of Moore College (2007).

2. Peter G. Bolt, William Cowper (1778–1858). The Indispensable Parson. The Life and Influence of Australia’s First Parish Clergyman (2009).

a. Full-text Edition

b. Commemorative Pictorial Edition produced for Cowper200.

3. Peter G. Bolt, A Portrait in his Actions. Thomas Moore of Liverpool (1762–1840). Part 1: Lesbury to Liverpool (2010)

4. Peter G. Bolt, A Portrait in his Actions. Thomas Moore of Liverpool (1762–1840). Part 2: Liverpool to Legacy (forthcoming)

5. David B. Pettett, Samuel Marsden. Preacher, Pastor, Magistrate and Missionary (2016)

6. Peter G. Bolt (Ed.), Freedom to Libel? Samuel Marsden v Philo Free: Australia’s First Libel Case (2016)

7. David B. Pettett, The Sermons Of Samuel Marsden. A Critical Edition (forthcoming).

Praise for the author

David Pettett’s treatment of Marsden shows us what was at the heart of his preaching. The focus on Samuel Marsden as an evangelical preacher in the early colony helps to redress some of the negativity about the man by revealing his theological and pastoral concern for those he addressed. Everyone interested in the influence of evangelicalism in the early colony will benefit from reading this account.

Colin Bale,
Vice Principal Moore College

Until now biographers of Samuel Marsden have ignored the main source of evidence about him – his sermons. David Pettett has made a close study of all his sermons and transcribed them for the benefit of us all. In this valuable and concise account surprising new light is thrown on the most controversial of Christ’s ambassadors in Australian history. Marsden will continue to have his critics, but now his own motivation will be better understood, his pastor’s heart for his people appreciated, and his strategic approach to mission admired. How David Pettett uses the sermons will also be admired, especially his reconstruction of his most famous sermon, that which he preached at the Bay of Islands on Christmas Day 1814.

Associate Professor Stuart Piggin,
Assoc Prof – Ancient History. Macquarie University

Though a much-maligned figure in Australian history, Samuel Marsden had at least been seen more positively in New Zealand. But, as this engaging short study shows, Marsden was the same man, driven by the gospel imperative to attempt much, which he did with all his might but with inevitable human flaws and weaknesses. Particularly marked in David Pettett’s approach is his meticulous research, courageous tackling of very contentious issues, the careful contextualization of his subject and his balanced judgements. His deep knowledge of, and careful analysis of Marsden’s sermons give great richness to his recreation of Marsden’s spiritual and moral universe.

Professor Malcolm Prentis,
Honorary Professor of Australian Catholic University

I’m grateful to David Pettett for his deep insight into Marsden, as a man, a passionate missionary and a controversial magistrate in his own times, times that were vastly different to our own. Every insight is built on the original documents and especially Marsden’s sermons. This is a beautifully balanced account of Marsden, his faults and his great achievements.

Rev. Canon Bruce Morrison,
Rector St. John’s Anglican Regional Cathedral Parramatta

Introduction

The Rev Samuel Marsden was the second chaplain to the colony of New South Wales and the first minister of the parish church of St. John’s Parramatta. He served there from when he first arrived in the colony in 1794 until his death in 1838. While he held this position he also became a successful and wealthy farmer. Before the more famous John McArthur reached his stride, Marsden exported Australia’s first fine wool clip. He established the first Christian mission to New Zealand where, today, he is still known as the Apostle to the Māori. He also became a magistrate in the colony, earning himself the title of Flogging Parson. Marsden was, and remains, a controversial figure. For more than 200 years he has had his supporters and detractors.

The Australian historian Robert Hughes describes Marsden as, “a grasping Evangelical missionary with heavy shoulders and the face of a petulant ox”. He declares that Marsden’s “hatred for the Irish Catholic convicts knew no bounds. It spilled into his sermons”.1 However, a close examination of all the extant copies of Marsden’s sermons reveals that he makes no reference at all to the Irish or to Catholics in any sermon.

Marsden’s original sermons sit in various collections around the world but historians have not made much use of them. My own research has been on those sermons and it has been a surprise to see some new light being shed on some of the controversial issues he faced, as for example these comments by Hughes.

Marsden described himself as first and foremost a preacher. In one of his sermons he says that the primary role of the office of a minister is “to preach the gospel of Christ”. With this self-understanding, any study of Marsden that seeks to understand his personality and motivations must include study of his sermons. Without reference to his sermons any conclusions must inevitably be tentative.

In various collections around the world there are 135 sermons, some of which are fragments. Moore Theological College Library in Sydney holds 98. There are 25 in the Family Collection and the remainder are scattered in ones and twos in various librar...

Table of contents

• 978-0-9946349-0-0_eBook_txt