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Dr. Joshua Marshman D.D.

An account of his life from his birth to his arrival at Serampore according to John Clark Marshman.

To study his work at Serampore go to 'The Centre for the Study of the Life and Work of William Carey D.D., 1761-1834'.

Portrait of Joshua Marshman inscribed 'taken from the life in Liverpool 1828'. Courtesy Derby Local Studies Library.

The early years in Wiltshire

Joshua Marshman's father was a weaver of superfine woollen cloth and became a member and deacon of the Baptist Church in Westbury Leigh. He married Mary Couzener in 1764 and Joshua Marshman was born on the 20th April 1768.

At 7, Joshua was sent to the village school at Coggeshall. His father related the tale of David and Goliath to him and it captured his attention to such an extent that he read through all the historical parts of the Old Testament. He found a history of England at the town fair and read it through before leaving the stall. His father had few books, but Joshua's thirst for reading persuaded him to to seek out books from stores and neighbours up to a dozen miles away. By the time he was 12 he had read more than 100 volumes. (A few days before his death he wrote down all the books he had read before he was 15, and the people he borrowed them from). At 18 he had read 500.

A bookseller from Holborn, London, called Mr. Cator, who was a native of Westbury Leigh, was visiting the village when he heard of a 15 year old youth who had read everything. They met and conversed at length. Mr. Cator was so impressed with Joshua that he offered to employ him in his shop. The prospect of having access to so many books filled Joshua with joy and he gladly accepted the position. Separation from his parents and his new life in strange surroundings caused some depression, but the prospect of being surrounded by thousands of books, none of which he was debarred from reading, raised his spirits. He was was required to deliver books to customers and often read them as he walked the streets.

The prospect that his future lay in being a bookseller's porter discouraged him. After 5 months, his father, thinking that Joshua was unhappy, recalled him to Westbury Leigh where he was put to work on the loom.

For the next 10 years his life seemed monotonous. He continued as a weaver, continuing to read whatever he could. His Baptist upbringing in this simple community taught him that it was a sin to seek out, rather than await, the leadings of Providence. He would not describe himself at this time as converted, but through careful examination of the Scriptures the light of truth shone in his mind. He read a whole library of divinity, polemical and devotional works but his special delight were the 17th century Puritans.

The 100 or so members of the Baptist Church at Westbury Leigh had fixed and unbending views that had been laid down by their Puritan founders. The 4 deacons held weekly meetings and vigilantly watched over the discipline and purity of the body. Joshua was unable to come up to their high standards and they regarded Marshman as having too much 'head knowledge' to have much 'heart knowledge' of its truths. They kept him in a state of probation for 7 years. Human learning in a pastor was regarded with suspicion. The Bristol Academy was the training school for Baptist ministers and presented the nearest object of mistrust for the members. Marshman left Westbury Leigh without being baptised.

In 1791, Joshua married Hannah Shepherd. She was the grand-daughter of Rev. John Clark, for 60 years the pastor of Crockerton Baptist Church, Wiltshire. Mrs Marshman was a woman of feeling, piety and good sense and possessed so amiable a disposition that nothing was ever known to ruffle her temper.

Their first child, John Clark Marshman, was born in August, 1794. (They were to have 12 children, of whom only 5 survived their father ­ a sad reflection of the high mortality rate of Europeans in Bengal)(1).

At the beginning of 1794 a school supported by the church at Broadmead, Bristol, needed a schoolmaster, and Marshman was offered the position with the understanding that he could eke out the scanty wages by taking on as many private pupils as he wished. Even the deacons at Westbury Leigh could not disagree that this was the hand of Providence.

He moved to Bristol and, on his arrival, was introduced to Dr. Ryland of the Bristol Academy. He joined Broadmead Baptist Church and was baptised within the year. By the strict economy of time he was able to fulfil his schoolmasters duties, look after his private pupils, and was permitted to join the classes at the Academy.

Marshman had read the Periodical Accounts of the new Baptist Missionary Society and his mind turned to missionary work in the East. Dr. Ryland encouraged these views and it was under these circumstances that Marshman wrote to the Society offering his services. He was accepted, but without quite the warmth of his other Serampore colleagues. However, once he had gained the confidence of Andrew Fuller, that confidence was never withdrawn. Within 3 weeks he was with William Ward and Mr. Brunsdon sailing down the Channel bound for India on the 'Criterion'.

Note

(1) The Bengal Obituary

 

From left to right: Hannah and Joshua Marshman's chairs, Carey Museum, Serampore.

Joshua Marshman and Hannah Marshman's gravestone, Serampore.

Photos taken in February, 2003, and reproduced courtesy of the Rev. Peter Shepherd, Broadway Baptist Church, Derby.

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