[6] Marson's formative years[7][8] were spent in Clevedon in Somerset where his father was the vicar of St Andrew's Church from 1871 till his death in 1895.
Brought up as a strict evangelical, he lost his faith initially but found new direction when working as a volunteer (and then as a curate) under the Rev Samuel Barnett at St Jude's Whitechapel between December 1881 and April 1884.
This close engagement with East End poverty – the overcrowded and squalid housing, the casual and ‘sweated’ labour, the workhouses and the inadequate charity provision – affected Marson deeply and led him to Christian socialism.
While at Whitechapel, Marson began writing articles and reviews for the Pall Mall Gazette and was offered a job (which he declined) alongside William Thomas Stead and Edward Tyas Cook on its staff.
[10] His acerbic wit and easy facility with words ensured a steady stream of work with various publications throughout his clerical career, supplementing his modest stipend.
[11] This networking tool of the burgeoning socialist groups provided political comment, notices of public meetings, reviews of books and pamphlets etc.
From 1884 through its monthly newspaper The Church Reformer, the Guild promoted a single tax on land values (as advocated by the American Henry George) to fund a campaign against poverty and city slums.
When the Christian Social Union was started in 1889, Marson was prepared to preach sermons and write articles for its publication ‘Commonwealth’ but felt that, though it claimed a membership of 5,000 and counted many bishops among its members, it was a ‘milk and water’ organisation.
'[19] Secondly it can be argued that because of their failure to engage with the trades unions and the working man, these Christian Socialist groups never received enough credit for their contribution to the intellectual debates of the late Victorian era, especially when the Labour Party broke through in the General Election of 1906.
[22] He held several short-lived posts in London parishes but his longest stints were as Rector of Orlestone in Kent for three years (1886–89) and as vicar of Hambridge (1893[23]-1914).
Seeking a fresh start in life, Marson then went out by ship to Adelaide, South Australia in June 1889 to be curate at St Peter's Glenelg and Chloe followed a year later to marry him.
At Glenelg and then at Parkside (a city suburb), Marson continued to be controversial, speaking out against the treatment of the Aborigines and in favour of social reforms.
[24] In October 1891 he set up the first overseas branch of the Fabian Society,[25] drawing in trade unionists like David Charleston, Robert Guthrie and John McPherson.
Sharp undoubtedly did most of the leg work (he was on holiday) but Marson was knowledgeable about folk songs with a handy library of reference books and great enthusiasm for the project.
"Huppim & Muppim" (1901) was a biting comment on unimaginative religious education in schools and "And Ard" was equally mordant on the inadequate recruitment, training and role of the clergy in the modern world.