Thomas Hassall (1794 - 1868) was raised and educated at Parramatta and worked as a clerk before opening the colony's first Sunday School in 1813. He acted as the superintendent and secretary of the New South Wales Sunday School Institution from 1815. He travelled to England in 1817, and was ordained deacon and priest in 1821. On his return to NSW he was married to Reverend Marsden's eldest daughter, Ann, and worked as curate at Parramatta. Later he also served as chaplain of the Port Macquarie penal settlement and the Bathurst district.