Patrick Marshall

Patrick Marshall (22 December 1869 – November 1950) was a geologist who lived in New Zealand. He was the first to introduce the terms rodingite and ignimbrite into petrology and mineralogy. Marshall's most significant contribution to science was his work on coastal erosion and volcanology.

Early life Patrick Marshall was born on 22 December 1869 in Sapiston, Suffolk, to Emily Louisa Merielina Rogers and her husband, John Hannath Marshall, a cricketer and vicar of Sapiston. Due to John's failing health, the family emigrated to New Zealand in 1876 and settled in Kaiteriteri. After John Marshall died in 1879, his widow and children returned to England, where Patrick attended school at Bury St Edmunds. His mother later remarried, and the family moved to Wanganui, New Zealand in 1882.

Marshall attended Wanganui Collegiate School from 1883 to 1888. He then studied geology and biology under Professor Frederick Hutton at Canterbury College, graduating with BA and BSc degrees in 1891 and receiving a Senior Scholarship in geology. In 1892 he studied for an MA at the University of Otago under Professor George Henry Frederick Ulrich.

Career as an academic From 1893 to 1895, Marshall was a lecturer in natural sciences at the Lincoln University in Christchurch, where he conducted research in entomology. He then spent five years as a senior science master at Auckland College and Grammar School. During this period, he completed a thesis on the Auckland volcanic field and was awarded a DSc in 1900. On 19 January 1900, he married Ruth Mary Dudley in Auckland.

In 1901, Marshall was appointed lecturer in geology at the University of Otago. He became professor of geology and mineralogy in 1908. At Otago, he conducted geologic research, joined the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury's 1907 expedition to the subantarctic islands, and contributed to two regional bulletins for the New Zealand Geological Survey. He also taught at the university and participated in wartime-related activities in Dunedin. When the First World War began in 1914, he volunteered for active service but was rejected.

Sporting career Marshall won the men's doubles at the New Zealand national tennis championships with his brother Joy in 1893–94. He played three first-class cricket matches for Auckland in the 1900–01 season.