Rowland Oswald Colin Marks (4 February 1893 – 12 November 1977) was born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, and was a pioneer of the

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

movement in New Zealand. He served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a sergeant and later second lieutenant in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade and earned the DCM. A teacher by profession, after graduating MA in 1922 from

Auckland University College The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loca ...

, Marks witnessed first-hand the difficulties faced by New Zealanders during the Depression. He became convinced that monetary reform was needed, and stood as the candidate for the Real Democracy Movement in the

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

electorate in the 1943 general election. The Movement evolved into the New Zealand Social Credit Political League and Marks polled highly, though not enough to take the seat. When not running for

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, he served on the League's national committee and was made a life member in 1968. Marks deservedly takes credit for establishing the Social Credit movement as a force in Wanganui.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marks, Roly 1893 births 1977 deaths University of Auckland alumni Social Credit Party (New Zealand) politicians New Zealand military personnel of World War I New Zealand Army personnel Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1954 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1957 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election New Zealand city councillors