James Cox Marshall (BA, Cantab) "one of the cheeriest of our citizens"

One of the more ornate graves in Dunedin's Andersons Bay Cemetery belongs to James Cox Marshall, whose death in 1927 was marked by the Evening Star:

"Mr J. C. Marshall, one of the cheeriest of our citizens and a man who was constantly interesting himself in friendly acts towards others, has not been seen much about the streets for years, an illness that seized him in 1914 compelling him to be very careful, but in his young days and in middle age he was known to everybody and much liked, for he had not an atom of ill-will in him. The intimation of his death on Saturday at the residence of Miss Cargill, Musselburgh Rise, revives many recollections, mostly of a personal nature, for he never busied himself with public affairs. His father and Mr E. B. Cargill were cousins, and when Mr Cargill was coming to Otago in 1872 by the ship Otago it was arranged that James Cox Marshall, then a young man, should come with Mr Cargill, the idea being that he should enter upon colonial life by taking up a sheep run. He did make a start with pastoral experience, but did not take to that life, and returned to town and took an appointment as clerk in the service of Brogden’s firm, who then had important railway contracts in hand. In after years he had private interests to occupy his time and thought, and his hobbies included all .sorts of unrecorded philanthropies, he being one of the sort that do good by stealth. If he had lived till Trafalgar Day of this year he would have reached the age of seventy eight." 

Mr James Cox Marshall, of Dunedin, New Zealand, formerly of Cannon Hall, Hampstead and Cheyne Gardens, Chelsea, who died on April 9th left, exclusive of property in New Zealand, personal estate in England valued for probate at £46,372. He left £2500 each to his chauffeur, William Monteith, his attendant, Barbara Monteith (wife of his chauffeur), and his attendant, Alice Wymar; £IOO to his medical attendant, Dr. David Colquhoun, of Dunedin, as a small expression of his appreciation of his kindness and attention; £7500 to his solicitor, John Alfred Cook, of Dunedin.          -The Press, 27/11/1927.

James Marshall was a busy man in Dunedin's affairs.  He was one of the "seventy gentlemen" who took the first train from Dunedin north to Waikouaiti.  He rowed and played as well as umpired cricket.  Being a friend of the Cargills, he was present in 1892 when "The Cliffs" (aka "Cargill's Castle") caught fire and suffered serious damage.  His name is often on the list of "gentlemen present" at balls and dinners which made up a large part of the social life of Dunedin's well-connected citizens and also graces the lists of those acknowledged for their subscriptions to the many worthy causes of the day.  The report of the death of a Sir Montague Pym mentions that he and James were "the first of the visitors to squeeze through the opening made by the navvies" when the Chain Hills railway tunnel was holed through in 1875.

In the matter of James Marshall's 1914 illness, I can say that his active participation in Dunedin events seems to have decreased at about that time, though his charitable contributions did not.

When James died, his personal fortune was estimated to be 180 000 pounds ($17,637,023 in today's money).  His personal attributes were summed up in the Otago Daily Times by its columnist "Wayfarer" - "Mr J. C. Marshall, who has passed to the happy hunting-grounds at an advanced age, may not have been a distinguished man in the usual acceptation of the term, but he always carried an appearance of distinction, and his picturesque figure and personality invite a word of commemorative notice. He belonged to a peculiarly English type, which is now perhaps nearly obsolete even in the Home Country, and which always had an exotic flavour at this end of the world. He was a Cambridge man, and loved to talk about old incidents of Cantab life and sport. He was not a poseur; for his style, with its bizarre touch, was quite natural, but the aroma of the old dandyism clung to him from youth to age, and to the last he had the air of the ancient beau. Whatever his foibles may have been, his disposition was generous, and many needful causes and individuals have been indebted to his liberality. Peace to his ashes!"