SAMUEL MARSDEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 177, 28 July 1934, Page 7

SAMUEL MARSDEN.

YORKSHIRE MEMORIAL

CEREMONY TO-DAY.

PIONEER IN WOOL INDUSTRY.

(By ERIC RAMSDEN.)

The memory of the Rev. Samuel Marsden, probably her most distinguished son, will be honoured in the Yorkshire village of Farsley' to-day, by the opening of a new memorial. There has been for many years, of course, a memorial in the parish church to New Zealand"s apostle. Those stained glass windows, inspired by others more ancient in York Minster, would not appeal to the heart of the evangelist as much as this new home in his native village for the aged and weary.

In these cottages, on the site where Mareden was born, will they spend the twilight of their days. The good people of Farsley have selected to-day for this ceremony because they believe —and so do many others—that this is the 170 th anniversary of Samuel Marsden's birth.

The actual date of the famous missionary's birth has puzzled historians. Professor Elder, of Dunedin, in his recent standard work on Marsden, quoted a letter which the clergyman wrote on June 25, 1835 (within three years of his death), wherein he said: "I am 70 years old this day." It seems hardly likely that the old man would have made a mistake in regard to euch an important date. On the other hand, his tomb at Parramatta, near Sydney, and the memorial in Farsley Church, both declare that Marsden was born on July 28, 1764. The latter date, hitherto, has been accepted. Graveyard inscriptions cannot always be trusted; there is a mistake on the tomb, near Mareden's own, relating to Martha, his youngest daughter.

Though Marsden was never accused of modesty by his enemies, comparatively little is known concerning hia early days in Farsley. It is, of course, that he was not ashamed of his "humble

origin, nor of that pecuniary assistance from the Elland Society which enabled him to be educated for the Anglican Church. Until the end of his days Marsden never forgot his Wesleyan antecedents, and preserved a tolerance towards the missionaries of that persuasion in all parts of the Pacific, an example that was by no means followed by his successors.

"I shall be much obliged for you to learn, if you can,, the- amount of my expenses to the Elland Society," he wrote in 1825 to the secretary of the Church Missionary Society. "I have always considered that a just debt I should pay." Should the society be no longer in existence, he requested that "some pious young man" be assisted with his clerical studies to the extent of £50 annually. Marsden, once on his feet, repaid his debt in instalments. Not so long ago I discovered a letter —it is now in the Mitchell Library in Sydney— wherein one of the members of the society acknowledged receipt of such an instalment.

There were times when, surrounded by powerful enemies, and disheartened by the hopeless task of effecting some reformation in the morals of New South Wales, Samuel Marsden thought very seriously of throwing up the sponge. His mind wavered between his native England and a home among the Maoris in New Zealand. If he had returned to Yorkshire, despite the educational hanjdicaps which are said to have prevented him in old age from becoming the first Australian bishop, Marsden would have been a force in the Anglican Church. Pioneer in Wool Industry. Marsden's early association with New Zealand is indicated on the new memorial in Farsley. One of the commemorative plates reads: "Samuel Marsden was born on the site of this memcMal, and received his education for the Ministry at Cambridge University. He was appointed- chaplain to the settlement in Sydney, and left for Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, in the year 1793. In the year 1814 he equipped his own ship Active and landed in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, the first missionary in this land. He preached the first sermon there on Christmas Day of the same year." ; Curiously enough, though the inscription in the church at Farsley is correct as to where Marsden died, the promoters of the new memorial have recorded tne incorrect statement that he passed away in Sydney. Samuel Marsden died while 1

on "a visitation" to Windsor on May 12, 1838. The body of the weary old missionary was brought ba<:k to his parsonage in Parramatta, and subsequently buried in the plot beside his "dearest Betsy," the wife of his youth.

Tribute is paid, however, on another tablet to Marsden's pioneer endeavours on behalf of what is now recognised as the great Australian Merino wool industry. It says:

"In the year 1807, Mr. Marsden brought from Australia to England the first wool for commercial use. This was stored in a warehouse on this site, and afterwards manufactured into cloth by Messrs. W. and J. Thompson at Park Mills, Rawdon. He did much to further the growing of wool in Australia, and in 1909 took back there five Me. ino Spanish sheep given him by King George III." Whether this is the actual day of Samuel Marsden's birth or not matters little. In all probability the date will never be definitely fixed, unless one is prepared to accept Ms own statement, jotted down perhaps in the forgetfulness of old age. I have been through many documents compiled by the missionary in the last phase of his life, and all bear witness to the mental anguish through which he was passing. It is good to know i though that the people of Farsley, like { those of New Zealand, revere the memory lof this great and good man.