Son of Matthew Marsh, Chancellor of Salisbury Cathedral, and his wife Margaret Brodie, Matthew Henry and his brother Charles William Marsh arrived in N.S.W. in 1839 or 1840. Matthew junior, a barrister and future parliamentarian, straightaway purchased two squatting runs in New England, "Salisbury Plain" (34,000 acres), and "Bourolong" (175,000 acres). After his marriage to Eliza Merewether, Matthew and his family lived at Salisbury, while his brother Charles managed Bourolong. Matthew Henry Marsh was elected to the N.S.W. Legislative Council as a Liberal whig" in 1851, but vacated his seat and returned to England in 1855, leaving Charles to oversee the running of both sheep stations. Matthew visited Australia sporadically during the next few years, publishing an account of his colonial experience, Overland From Southampton To QueensIand in 1867, eventually passing away at Bournemouth in January 1881. He and Eliza reared three daughters, the eldest of whom, Ana, married the 9th baronet, Sir Herbert George Denman Croft. Their sons, Herbert Archer and Hugh Matthew Fiennes, successively managed Boorolong until its subdivision in 1913. |
