Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content

Former Member Details

Mr Matthew Henry MARSH (1801 - 1881)

Member Photo
Date of Birth: 01/01/1801
Place of Birth: Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
Date of Death: 26/01/1881
Place of Death: Bournemouth, England
Parliamentary Service
Position Start End Period Notes
Member of the NSW Legislative Council 01 Sep 1851 31 Mar 1855 3 years 7 months An Elective Member of the first Legislative Council 1843 - 1856 for the Pastoral Districts of New England and Macleay
Political Party Activity
Community Activity
Qualifications, occupations and interests
Lawyer (barrister); pastoralist.
Military Service
Honours Received
Membership of other Parliaments & Offices Held
Local Government Activity
Personal
The exact date of birth is not known (1 January is put here for database purposes). Eldest son of the Rev. Matthew Marsh, Canon of Salisbury Cathedral and and chancellor of the diocese of Salisbury, and his wife Margaret Brodie. In 1844 he married Elizabeth Mary Merewether, daughter of Serjeant Henry Alworth Merewether, town clerk of London, and his wife Elizabeth Lockyer; her brother, Edward Merewether, was clerk of the Executive Council of New South Wales in the 1850s and was later a pastoralist and businessman. Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxord, gaining a Bachelor of Arts in 1833 and a Master of Arts in 1835. Called to the Bar of the Inner Temple in 1836 and practised on the Western Circuit and the Wiltshire Assizes. He had a small practice and on the advice of his uncle, B. C. Brodie, migrated to New South Wales in 1840, arriving in Sydney on the 'Broxbornebury' on 24 June. After arrival he purchased a 340, 000 acre property in New England calling it 'Salisbury Plains'. He later acquired 'Boorolong', 175, 000 acres, also in New England, and 'Maryland', 200, 000 acres on the Darling Downs. A magistrate from 1841, he was an early member of the Australian Club. In September 1851 he was elected unopposed as a 'Liberal Whig' to the Legislative Council for the Districts of New England and Macleay. He took part in the debates on the Constitution Bill and derided American 'mobocracy', opposed an elected upper house and denied the value of representation according to population.
Additional Information
Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5