Sam’s Clan

The aim of this web site is to find the Ancestors & Descendants of Samuel Marsden, a soldier with the NSW Corps, who came to Australia on the 2nd Fleet in 1790.

My hope is that others searching the internet may come across this site and contact me if they believe we are in any way related.

My name is John Marsden and I am a direct descendant of Samuel. I have a record of some of Samuel’s descendants in Australia- by Birth Death & Marriage records-up to myself.

My problem is finding any record of Samuel’s place or date of Birth. Any information would be much appreciated.

If you go to the Samuel Marsden tab you can view various certificates & documents including copies of Samuel’s Marriage & Death Certificates

Please note that Soldier Samuel is NOT The Reverend Samuel Marsden, who was in the Colony during the same period. Oral history among my relations suggests that the 2 Samuels were related. However there is no documentary evidence for this.

What we know

MARSDEN, SAMUEL (c1769-1830)

Samuel Marsden enlisted as a private in the 36th Regiment in Dec 1788 and was transferred to the New South Wales Corps on 25 June 1789 and embarked on the Surprize transport on 13 November 1789. Surprize was one of the ships of the 2nd Fleet.

Samuel arrived in Sydney in 1790. In February 1793 he was sent to Norfolk Island on the Kitty where he lived with the First Fleet convict Rachel Earley (b.c1762, tried Berkshire, died Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) 1842). Their child Elizabeth was born in January 1794 on Norfolk Island.

In March the couple sailed for Sydney, where Rachel and the child remained when Samuel returned to the island with the corps in July. Whether their relationship broke down at this point is not clear.

Samuel again returned to Sydney in November 1795, but was back on the island by around 1797-1798. Rachel and her child had returned to Norfolk Island in February 1796, but the liaison was definitely over by 1798 when Samuel was living on the island with Ann Armsworth or Harmsworth - we tend to the name Harmsworth- the teenage daughter of a marine who had arrived with the First Fleet.

Their children included:-

Joseph (1799-1815)

Sarah (1803-1835)

Thomas (1805 - 1883)

Ann (1807- 1811)

Samuel (1810-1853).

Samuel & Ann were married on 19 January 1800.

Samuel and his family remained on Norfolk Island until the recall of the NSW Corps in 1810, when they returned to Sydney and he transferred to the Veteran Company in order to remain in the colony. The family were living in Sydney in 1814, but by 1822 had moved to the Liverpool district. Soon afterwards he was pensioned from the army and worked as a shoemaker at Liverpool until his death there in February 1830; he was buried on the 25th [probably aged 61]. His wife's death on 30 July 1828 had been registered at St Phillips, Sydney.

We are also searching for the following Ancestor Families

      Harmsworth

      Mansfield

      Stanfield

      Beadle

      Davis

Who may have information on our Sam.

Also families of descendants of Sam’s children

We are all descendants of the First Fleet Families of

Thomas Harmsworrth

Alice Mansfield

Ann Harmsworth

Daniel Stanfield

Rachel Early