The mid-nineteenth century Exeter Congregation also had its representatives in Australia. Let us examine one family in detail because its story exemplifies so many of the emigrants. Joseph Marks, an uncle of the Rose Marks just mentioned, was born in Portsea about 1806. He joined the Exeter Congregation in 1832 and within a year married Julia, the Exeter-born daughter of Isaac Solomon who was born in Prussia, and Rosetta Solomon who was born in Rochester, Kent. In 1834, he became a vestry member of the Congregation. In 1838, he was the tenant of a shop in Fore Street Hill, Exeter, with a rateable value of £33 per annum; and in 1844 he is described as a clothier in King Street, Exeter, where he was instrumental in catching a notorious fence. In 1843 and again in 1849 his name appeared on the Voters' Register at 113 Fore Street Hill. In 1853, the Exeter Congregation paid a farewell tribute to him for 'having sat among us for 20 years and filled the office of President and Treasurer'. [JC, 8 July 1853.] The Marks family, twelve of them apparently, left Bristol in the Cotfield on 1 August 1853 and arrived in Adelaide on 30 November 1853, the arrival being noted in the South Australian Register. [Letter from His Honour Mr Justice Marks, Melbourne, 1 February 1990, who also supplied the information about the family in Australia.]
