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Marsh was sentenced in Derby, England, in 1866 to 15 years for manslaughter. He arrived in 1868, leaving his wife in England. He wrote anxiously to his wife, but heard nothing from her after 1868.

When he got his ticket-of-leave in 1874 he went to work for Geraldton blacksmith Jonathon Coe, himself an ex-convict. In 1875 he started his own business. By 1885 the local paper praised his extensive foundry and carriage works, which produced articles ‘so good we do not see the necessity of importing from the South or elsewhere’ (Victoria Express 24 October 1885). He also owned the first power-driven chaffcutter in the district and had the first electricity installation in the town.

He and his second wife Louisa had 14 children. He died in 1928.