The 1800s - The Reverend Marsh

A Short History of Sutton Benger; Part Six

Reverend George Thomas Marsh arrived in Sutton Benger in 1836, aged only 24. He had been born in Winterslow, Wiltshire in August 1812. His father, the Reverend Matthew Marsh, was a Canon in Salisbury Cathedral. George’s elder brother (also Matthew) was a lawyer who spent much of his life in Australia. Having been a member of the Australian Government he returned to England and was elected MP of Salisbury between 1855 and 1868.

The Reverend Marsh was instrumental in the foundation of the School (the Old Schoolhouse on Seagry Road), and in renovating both the church and the rectory – creating the gothic building which still stands on the High Street next to the church. The 1851 Census shows a very full household in the Rectory: George and his wife Frances; George’s widowed mother Margaret; his sister Georgiana (married to the Curate of Chippenham) and her son; plus six servants for themselves and their visitors.

Sadly, Reverend Marsh suffered from consumption; he died in Nice, France in 1862 at the age of only 49. His wife Frances then lived for many years in The Close, Salisbury. The stained glass windows in Sutton Benger church were placed there in his memory.