Matthew Henry Marsh (1810—1881) was a politician in Great Britain and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and a

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

pioneer pastoralist.

Early life

Matthew Henry Marsh was born on 10 September 1810 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, England, the son of the Rev Matthew Marsh, the Canon of

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

and his wife Margaret (née Brodie). He attended

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1833 and a Master of Arts in 1835 from Christ Church College of

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. He was called to the bar of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1836, after which he was a barrister on the Western Circuit and at the Wiltshire Assizes. However, he did not have a very successful practice as a barrister and so on the advice of his uncle he emigrated to New South Wales. On 24 June 1840, he sailed to Sydney on the ''Broxbournebury'' arriving on 24 September. There he purchased a 340,000 acre pastoral run in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

which he called ''Salisbury Plains'', a 175,000 acre run called ''Boorolong'', and a 200,000 acre run called ''Maryland'' on the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

(then part of New South Wales, but subsequently part of Queensland). Leaving his pastoral properties under the management of his brother Charles, Marsh returned to England, where he married Eliza Mary Ann Merewether on 25 July 1844 in

Calne Calne () is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England. On returning to New South Wales with his bride, in 1845 they built a large homestead called Salisbury Court at Salisbury Plains (now at 3031 Thunderbolts Way,

Salisbury Plains Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, but st ...

, listed on the

Uralla Shire Uralla Shire is a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The New England Highway passes through the Shire. The Shire was established on 1 January 1948 as a result of the amalgamation of the Munici ...

local heritage register).

Politics

Marsh was elected to the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. Along with the New South Wales Legislative As ...

1 September 1851 to 31 March 1855 for the Pastoral Districts of New England and Macleay, where he was a strong advocate of establishing a separate colony in Northern Australia (which would include the New England and Darling Downs districts where his pastoral assets were located). In 1855, he returned to England, where he was elected in 1857 to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

as the representative for

, where he continued to advocate for the new colony. He was successful in that the

separation of Queensland The Separation of Queensland was an event in 1859 in which the land that forms the present-day state of Queensland in Australia was excised from the Colony of New South Wales and proclaimed as a separate crown colony. History European settlemen ...

occurred in 1859. However, he was personally disappointed that Queensland's southern boundary was further north than he wished, leaving New England part of New South Wales while the Darling Downs became part of Queensland. In 1865, he returned to Australia between June and December. In

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, his role in achieving separation was celebrated with a banquet in his honour on 11 September. He published an account of his journey in 1867. He retired from the British Parliament in 1868.

Later life

Marsh became a magistrate in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and a deputy-lieutenant in

. He became a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He made another visit to his Australian properties in 1873. Marsh died on 26 January 1881 in

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, England.

Published works

* * — available at th
Open Library

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Matthew Henry 1810 births 1881 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council 19th-century Australian politicians Politicians from Salisbury Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford