He was ordained as a priest on 1 June 1828 by the Bishop of London in the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace.

[5] Although an ordained priest, Brown was sent to New Zealand to instruct the children of the mission families in the Bay of Islands.

In 1835, Te Waharoa, the leader of the Ngāti Hauā iwi (Māori tribe) of the Matamata region, lead his warriors against neighbouring tribes to avenge the death of a relative, with the fighting, which continued into 1836, extended from Rotorua, Matamata to Tauranga.

Alfred and Charlotte's daughter, Marianne Celia, was born in the Bay of Islands on 25 April 1837.

[20][21] Marsh Brown was sent to St John's Collegiate School at Waimate North, Bay of Islands, in March 1844.

He travelled widely throughout his archdeaconry often spending several weeks away from home as he visited Maori villages throughout the Bay of Plenty and Taupo regions.

[26] Although most of Brown's converts drifted away after the battles of Gate Pa and Te Ranga in 1864, he still considered himself to be a missionary.

He and Christina purchased 17 acres of land around the Te Papa mission station from the CMS in 1873, renaming the property "The Elms", by which name it is known today.