Charles Latimer Marson (16 May 1859 – 3 March 1914) was an influential figure in the second wave of Christian socialism in England in the 1880s. Later between 1903 and 1906 he collaborated with his good friend Cecil Sharp in the collection and publication of Folk Songs from Somerset vols. 1-3, which contributed greatly to the first British folk revival.
Education and training
Marson's formative years were spent in Clevedon in Somerset where his father was the vicar of St Andrew's Church from 1871 till his death in 1895. Marson attended Clifton College and then University College, Oxford. 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. He was inspired by the various clubs and schemes at work in the parish – e.g. adult education classes, Mothers’ meetings, youth clubs, work placements. Barnett was at that time developing his ideas of the University Settlement, where students would live and work alongside the poor. The first of these settlements was Toynbee Hall, founded at St Jude's in 1884.
Journalism and writing
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. 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.
In September 1884 Marson took over as Editor of the Christian Socialist monthly newspaper. This networking tool of the burgeoning socialist groups provided political comment, notices of public meetings, reviews of books and pamphlets etc. Its circulation increased markedly under Marson's leadership until he relinquished the role in December 1886.
It was during this time that Marson developed a close friendship with Edith Nesbit, who submitted some of her early poems to his paper. Marson practised his children's stories with Nesbit's children and he collaborated with her in one of her short stories Man-size in Marble. He was to publish his own original children's stories in 1891 in Australia.
It was through Edith Nesbit that Marson joined the Fabian Society in November 1885. He remained a member until 1913.
Christian Socialist Groups
Marson met the radical priest Rev Stewart Headlam in the early 1880s and quickly joined the Guild of St Matthew, which Headlam had started in 1877. The Guild is regarded by many as the first socialist group of all. Initially the Guild chided the established church for its complacency and reluctance to tackle social issues. It particularly espoused Anglo-Catholic ritual (sacraments, vestments, drama, stained glass) as the better way to reach out to the poor and illiterate. 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. Marson joined the Guild's Council and was both supportive and critical of the Guild's progress until its demise in 1909.
In late 1885 Marson founded the Christian Socialist Society with the help of two laymen, WHP Campbell and the Fabian Alfred Howard. Its manifesto, published in May 1886, appealed to a broader base of inter-denominational clergy and lay people alike. After initial success, the Society faltered when Marson left for Australia in 1889 and it folded in 1892.
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.
He preferred to put his weight behind the Christian Socialist League, another attempt (in 1894) at an ecumenical socialist group led by the Baptist John Clifford. Marson served on the Executive until its demise in 1898.
The final group that Marson joined was the Church Socialist League (1909–23). Although it drew most of its support from the north of England, Marson knew several of its leaders well – WE Moll (with whom he had worked at a Soho parish); Conrad Noel and Percy Dearmer (personal friends); and Percy Widdrington (Marson's private pupil in 1896).