Although late in posting, this fine tribute to John Barnes from the March 2023 edition of La Trobeana captures him well. As an administrator, I worked with John on and off from the 1980s and in ‘retirement’ benefited from his encouragement and guidance to pursue further study.
Rev F. A. Marsh is one of the most significant Australian and Victorian Baptist figures of the mid-Twentieth Century and worthy of a more thorough historical study than has yet been the case.
This month, I commenced work on a doctoral thesis at the Australian Catholic University to examine his life and influences.
Marsh's contribution grew from local congregational work to include state, national and international Baptist leadership, engagement, and initiatives at a time of significant social, religious, and cultural changes.
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| (Left to right) Pastor Neville Anderson, former missionary, Rev Frank Marsh, Geoffrey Moore, (son of missionaries Cyril and Edna Moore), J. D. Williams, secretary of the Australian Baptist Missionary Society. Courtesy of Baptist Mission Australia. |
Marsh was an active ecumenist in the pre-Vatican II era when many Protestants viewed Catholics and Orthodox Christians with suspicion. His travels and working life as a mission administrator and theological college comptroller brought him into contact with people of different faiths in the Asia-Pacific and those living 'behind the iron curtain' during the Cold War.
Marsh’s experience and perspectives are credited by some as moderating more narrow fundamentalist theological views circulating in Australia at the time. His network included the following influential people; Rev Sir (Clarence) Irving Benson, Rev Halsey E. Dewey (Principal of Mount Hermon School, Darjeeling), Mrs Cecilia Downing, Rev Norman Faichney, Rev R. G. Nichols, Dr Lam Chi-Fung 林子豐 OBE, Archbishop Eris Michael O'Brien CMG, and Alfred Harold Wood.
In addition, he worked with a large group of Baptist missionaries (now recognised for their cross-cultural skills), more than half of whom were women. Collectively they influenced a diverse range of people across what used to be known as Bengal, and later in New Guinea.
A particular feature of his work was a constructive engagement with American Baptists in both Bengal and Hong Kong.
This examination of his life is an opportunity to better understand these dynamics and shine a reflective light on one aspect of the waning of British and missionary influence in our region, the dynamics of social change in Australia and the place of India and Hong Kong in the Australian imagination.
If you have an interest in this project, please let me know. I hope to make occasional posts as the study progresses.
While we have no known image of John Shying (yet) and there’s still more work to do to find where he ended up, there’s one thing we do know: he has dozens of descendants in Australia today through his first Australian wife Sarah Jane Thompson.
Their four children, John, George, Thomas and Henry, were born in Paramatta where John built a home and by 1829 was the licensee for the Golden Lion Hotel, apparently known for its Chinese veranda. His name can be made out just below the '20' on the map below which shows the location of his hotel. By 1830, in addition to the hotel, he owned six houses in the town.
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| Site of the Golden Lion. Church Street, between Fennell and Harold Streets. Detail from Parramatta as surveyed by W. Meadows Brownrigg in 1844. Courtesy State Library of New South Wales. |
Of course, he maintains his special place as Australia’s first documented migrant from China, but the world’s first Mr Shying also has a rich multicultural Australian legacy. His many Australian descendants have various combinations of Irish, English, Scottish, German and Indigenous heritages (and probably more). Their surnames include; Allen, Blomer, Clarke, Doyle, Eyles, Gibbeson, Hayden, Jervis, Loel, Milham, Owen, Proctor, Shying (of course), Slayford, Slatyer, Smith, Stuart and Yarroll. You may know of some more… Amongst these is one patriotically named granddaughter named Alice Australia Shying.
His descendants' careers and lives are also as varied as the wider population and include entertainment, the military and business. Three collaborative efforts to track his many descendants are;
Any additions, comments or corrections you might have will make a difference.
This reminds me, January is a great time to do some family history. (It is of course the anniversary of the birth of the new nation - 1 January 1901.) Speak with your oldest relatives about what they remember, ask them to add names and dates to old photos, review your family tree and share what you know. Who knows where the story will take you.
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| Paramatta in 1824, John Shying's time, by Joseph Lycett. Courtesy State Library of Victoria via Wikipedia. |
