Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 36.djvu/291

Martin  Martin died on 30 Dec. 1855 at Froxfield, and was buried in Eversholt churchyard. His wife died in 1836, and of six children three survived him. His eldest son, John Edward Martin, sub-librarian and afterwards librarian to the Inner Temple, died on 20 July 1893, aged 71 (Times, 26 July 1893).

In 1834 Martin published, as the result of years of labour and research, a ‘Bibliographical Catalogue of Books privately printed,’ 2nd edit., 8vo, 1854. The first edition contains an account of private presses and book clubs which Martin did not insert in the second edition, but at the time of his death he was preparing a separate volume, which was to contain this portion of the first edition with additions. He wrote also a ‘History and Description of Woburn and its Abbey; a new edition,’ 12mo, Woburn, 1845. At the request of Lord John Russell he compiled an ‘Enquiry into the authority for a statement in Echard's History of England regarding William, lord Russell,’ which was printed for private circulation in 1852, and published in 1856. It refuted the assertion that Lord Russell interfered to prevent the mitigation of the barbarous part of the punishment for high treason in the case of Viscount Stafford, upon the presentation of the petition of Sheriffs Bethel and Cornish to the House of Commons on 23 Dec. 1680. Martin likewise furnished some notes to Lord John Russell's edition of Rachel lady Russell's ‘Letters,’ 1853; and in 1855 he published a translation of Guizot's essay on the ‘Married Life of Rachel, Lady Russell.’ He left unfinished an edition of the ‘Letters of the Earl of Chatham to his Nephew.’ He was both F.S.A. and F.L.S.

 MARTIN, JOHN, M.D. (1789–1869), meteorologist, born in 1789, practised for some years as a physician in the city of London, and died at Lisbon on 8 July 1869. He was editor of a work which has always been held in high estimation, entitled 'An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, with an original Grammar and Vocabulary of their Language. Compiled and arranged from the extensive communications of Mr. William Mariner, several years resident in those Islands,' 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1817; 2nd edit. 1818; also reprinted as vol. xiii. of 'Constable's Miscellany.' A French translation appeared at Paris in November 1817. Mariner had been detained in friendly captivity from 1805 to 1810, and his narrative was generally corroborated by a sailor named Jeremiah Higgins, who had lived in Tonga for nearly three years previously. In 1827 Mariner was employed in the office of a London stockbroker, and he was drowned in the Thames some years previous to 1871.

The 'Athenæum' notices Martin's meteorological investigations as follows: 'In our own pages we have had occasion to record his labours during the last twenty years in the observation of atmospherical phenomena, especially with reference to pressure, temperature, and moisture. Martin laid down meteorological charts representing the varying aspects of months, seasons, and years from daily observation. He also made careful observation with reference to ozone, as well as on the characteristics and circumstances affecting cholera and yellow fever. These labours are the more commendable as the work of an old man, executed in different colours with scrupulous neatness, and mostly at night after the fatigue of practice.'  MARTIN, JOHN (1812–1875), Irish nationalist, born at Loughorne, in the parish of Donoughmore, co. Down, on 8 Sept. 1812, was the second child of Samuel Martin by Jane Harshaw his wife. Like his parents, he was a presbyterian through life. He was educated at Dr. Henderson's school at Newry, where he first made the acquaintance of his lifelong friend, John Mitchel [q. v.l, and subsequently at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated B.A. in the summer of 1834. He commenced the study of medicine, but abandoned it before taking a medical degree. On the death of his uncle John Martin in 1835 he inherited a small property at Loughorne, where he resided for the next few years. In 1839 he travelled in America, and in 1841 visited the continent. Martin became a member of the Repeal Association, and vainly counselled a regular publication of accounts. He joined the secession of the Young Ireland party, and was expelled from the Repeal Association, being refused a hearing in Conciliation Hall. He subsequently took a prominent part in the meetings of the Irish Confederation, and became a contributor to Mitchel's 'United Irishman.' Three weeks after the arrest of Mitchel and the seizure of his paper Martin reoccupied his friend's offices, and on 24 June 1848 issued from them 'The Irish Felon, successor to the "United Irishman,"' with the avowed purpose of promoting the same principles which had 