Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/500

 474 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The late Hon. James Martin, M.L.C. THE annals of the late Hon. James Martin contain many stories of hard-fought battles and uphill endeavor, and serve to illustrate the sterling and strenuous qualities of the man. He was born in 1821, in the village of Foundry (which secured its name from a foundry managed by his grandfather), in the parish of Stithians, in Cornwall. His father was in business as a mechanic, and when he died there was no one to undertake the control of his works. His mother was left a widow in poor circum- stances, with six young children (the subject of the present memoir^ not being then born) to support. It was therefore necessary for the sons to work for their own living from an early age, and the following account will show to what extent Mr. James Martin succeeded. According to a recent biographical sketch given in the Adelaide Observer (to which we are indebted for most of the informa- tion here set forth), he "inherited mechanical tastes " from both sides of the family, and soon evinced a decided predilection for such pursuits. But the road to gratifying them was long and sometimes dreary, and it may be said that whatever success he attained has been by dauntless perseverance in obedience to his own desires. It was not possible for him to have much schooling, for the reason already stated, and when very young he was compelled to earn his own living. After working as a lad for some time in his native town, he went to Truro, where he was employed as a millwright. Here he became associated with the Treseaven Mine, and was enabled to demonstrate his natural adaptability to engineering work. At that time the first man-engine was used in England. To save miners the exhausting exertion of climbing to the .surface by ladders hundreds of feet long, a reward of ^500 was offered for .some mechanical contrivance that would obviate the necessity. The engineer of the mine prepared a drawing, and Mr. Martin was instructed to construct a model from it for submission to the gentlemen who had to judge of its merits. The contrivance was accepted, and, as one authority states, " marks an important epoch Hammer & Co., Photo