Jocelyn Mary Marshall

MARSHALL, Jocelyn Mary (née Crabtree). b. Morrinsville, Waikato, New Zealand, 15 September 1931. She was educated at Hamilton West School, Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, and the Auckland and Christchurch Teachers’ Colleges, graduating in 1951. She worked initially as a Speech Therapist in Auckland schools. Brought up first in the Presbyterian and then the Methodist Church she was involved in the Auckland Methodist Youth Council, the Student Christian Movement and occasional radio broadcasting. In 1954 she married Fred Marshall (later Professor of French) after which she spent four years in Paris, studying at the Institute of Phonetics while teaching children at the British Embassy and giving English lessons. In 1958 the couple returned to New Zealand, and after a period in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, finally settled in 1970 in Hamilton, where she has since held the positions of City Councillor (1998-2004), Justice of the Peace (1999), Docent at the Waikato Museum of Art and History and Lay Canon (now Canon Emeritus) of Waikato Cathedral Church of St Peter. One of her five sons, Christopher, is a leading New Zealand composer and has created a number of settings for his mother’s hymn texts. In 2007 she received the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the community.

In 1991 Jocelyn Marshall published a first poetry collection, Coming up for Air, and in 1993 wrote her first hymn text, a carol, for her son Christopher’s successful entry in an Auckland Royal School of Church Music carol competition. Since then she has published four collections, A Singing Faith: Incorporating Occasional Hymns (1996), Additional Hymns (1999), More Hymns by Jocelyn Marshall (2001) and Hymns for All Seasons (2007). Her hymns have appeared in Sing Glory and Anthems for Two Voices (Kevin Mayhew, 1999 and 2002); also in Christ’s College, Canterbury (2009) and two New Zealand Hymnbook Trust publications, Carol our Christmas (1996) and Hope is our Song (2009). Her hymn, ‘God of Ages’ was one of the finalists for the worldwide 1998 Millennium Hymn Competition organised by St Paul’s Cathedral, London. Some of her hymns are listed on the HymnQuest 2000 and Oremus data bases.

Many of her texts have arisen out of personal experiences, or as responses to sermons; others are the result of commissions to celebrate patronal saints, church festivals and anniversaries. In her own words, she writes ‘to fill the need for [texts] that are written in inclusive language, are poetic in structure and are relevant to contemporary theology and a forward-looking faith.’ They are also deeply-rooted in the social concerns, the spirituality and the imagery of the natural world of her own country.

Her words are usually set to well-established tunes in A&MR, but a number of them have received fresh settings by New Zealand and English composers, including Christopher Marshall, Anita Banbury, Len Schroeder, Nigel Williams and Ronald Dellow.

Colin Gibson