Solicitor

64

Married

St Margarets Dene, Queens Road, Shanklin, Isle of Wight PO37 6DG

CLWS

Complies

John was born in 1846 in Sandgate, Kent. He married Hannah Alice Spurr in 1877, and they would go on to have one daughter and two sons. John moved to the Isle of Wight in 1879, starting as the clerk for the clerk of the Shanklin local board and burial board. He became the town clerk of Shanklin in 1884, a position he would hold for 41 years until his death. Before this, he had other positions within local government. He acted as an agent for Major General Seely during the Boer War in 1900. He was an active member of the Island’s Conservative association, and by 1906, he was secretary for the association. John was also a practising solicitor and was a prominent figure in the police courts and in lawsuits. He complied with the 1911 census. He was recorded living at his home, St Margarets Dene in Shanklin with his wife and 3 children (see map for approximate position). John was chairman of the Shanklin branch of the Church League for Women’s Suffrage, which was formed at the beginning of 1912. His daughter, Margaret Marsh, was made the Honorary Secretary of the CLWS Shanklin branch. In February of that year, he chaired a meeting at the smaller co-operative hall in Shanklin in which he shared how he’d believed in women’s suffrage since the beginning of his interactions with politics. In May, he presided over an open-air meeting in Shanklin Square for visiting suffragists Mrs J.E. Francis of Brighton and Miss L Corben of London. In July, he travelled to the House of Commons alongside fellow Island suffragette Viscountess Eleanor Gort and other members of the movement. They travelled to ask for the MP for the Isle of Wight, Douglas Hall, to support amendments to current legislation to allow for the vote to be extended to women. In October of 1912, he chaired a meeting at Sandown Town Hall in which he apologised for his presence as he was sure everyone in the area and beyond knew his views on the topic. Norah O’Shea, parliamentary secretary of the Surrey Sussex and Hants branch of NUWSS, was a speaker at the meeting. He continued to regularly chair meetings in 1913, including one for the NUWSS and a National meeting for the CLWS. In 1914, he attended a well-attended meeting of the CLWS in Ryde. John became president of the Shanklin Conservative Association in 1923. John died in December 1925, aged 79. He had been Ill for the year leading up to his death, preventing him from working as Shanklin town clerk. He left behind his wife and three children, including his eldest son, Colonel Frank Harrison Marsh, who commanded of the Isle of Wight Rifles for a period of time. Sources: I have used various local newspaper a selection of which are featured as clippings. Contributed by Becca Aspden, URSS student researcher, History Dept., Warwick University.