Albert Edward Martin (1876 – 26 July 1936) was an English merchant and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, later

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician.

Date of birth

According to the source, Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page, Martin was born in 1875 but

Who was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

gives his date of birth as 1876.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007 According to the brief obituary in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

newspaper, Martin was aged 59 years when he died, which supports the report of his date of birth as 1876.The Times, 28 July 1936 p16

Family

Martin married Edith Savory in 1909 and they had a son and two daughters.

Career

Martin was a successful merchant. He was head of a firm in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

. He was also a member of the Territorial Army, rising to the rank of Honorary Colonel of the 52nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade, (T.A) and he was responsible for raising the 156th Battery. Martin also served as a Justice of the Peace.

Politics

Parliamentary candidate, 1918

Martin was selected as Liberal candidate for

Romford Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...

in Essex to fight the 1918 general election in succession to the sitting Liberal MP, Sir John Bethell who had transferred to the nearby seat of East Ham North. Both Martin and Bethell were awarded the

Coalition coupon The Coalition Coupon was a letter sent to parliamentary candidates at the 1918 United Kingdom general election, endorsing them as official representatives of the Coalition Government. The 1918 election took place in the heady atmosphere of victory ...

for the election and both were returned. In Romford, Martin faced a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

opponent and one from the left-wing National Socialist Party. In the absence of a

, with the Labour vote split and with the endorsement of the coupon, Martin won the seat comfortably with a majority of 5,256 votes.

1922

At the 1922 general election Martin stood as a

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

, that is to say as a supporter of outgoing

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for leading the United Kingdom during ...

of whose Coalition government he had been a supporter. Again without a Conservative opponent, Martin was involved in a straight fight against Labour. He held his seat by a majority of 4,103 votes.F W S Craig, ''British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949''; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p355

1923

Martin's years of working with the Conservatives in Parliament and presumably at a local level, must have played a part in his decision in 1923 to leave the Liberals and join the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

. As the 1923 general election approached Martin was adopted by the Romford Conservatives as their candidate for the contest. However this move was resented by some in the constituency and this bitterness could have proved problematic for Martin's election campaign. In the event the potential difficulties never presented themselves as Martin withdrew from the fray on the grounds that his health had broken down. The Conservatives selected another candidate Charles Rhys to represent them and Rhys went on to win the seat, holding it until

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

Local politics

Martin continued to enjoy a political career at

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

level. He was charter

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of the new

Municipal Borough of Barking Barking was a local government district, and later civil parish and borough, in southwest Essex, England from 1882 to 1965. It was known as Barking Town from 1882 to 1931. The district included the town of Barking, eastern Beckton and the southwes ...

in 1931 and was re-elected mayor in November 1932. He was sometime chairman of Barking Education Committee and of the Food Control Committee. He was also an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

of the Borough.The Times, 25 January 1933 p12

Death

Martin died at his home, Oak Hall, The Leas,

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 ...

, Essex, on 26 July 1936.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Albert Edward 1876 births 1936 deaths English merchants UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) councillors Politics of Essex Mayors of places in Greater London National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians