Sir James Martin,
QC (14 May 1820 – 4 November 1886)
was three times
Premier of New South Wales
The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislatu ...
, and
Chief Justice of New South Wales
The Chief Justice of New South Wales is the senior judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and the highest-ranking judicial officer in the Australian state of New South Wales. The Chief Justice is both the judicial head of the Supreme Co ...
from 1873 to 1886.
Early career
Martin was born in
Midleton
Midleton (; , meaning "monastery at the weir") is a town in south-eastern County Cork, Ireland. It lies approximately 16 km east of Cork City on the Owenacurra River and the N25 road, which connects Cork to the port of Rosslare. A satellit ...
,
County Cork
County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
but emigrated with his parents to
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
at the age of one.
[ He was educated at Dame's School, ]Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
and, despite his family's poverty, the Sydney Academy and Sydney College under the tutelage of William Timothy Cape
William Timothy Cape (25 October 1806 – 4 June 1863) was an early school master in Sydney, Australia; several of the Premiers of New South Wales attended his school.
Cape was born at Walworth, Surrey, England, the son of William Cape, a Lon ...
, and left school at the age of 16 to become a reporter.
In 1838, Martin published the ''Australian Sketch Book'', a series of character sketches he dedicated to Sydney barrister Bob Nichols, for whom he was then working as an articled clerk in 1840.
Martin qualified as a solicitor in 1845, and combined his legal career with employment as a newspaper editor and publisher. He married Isabella Long on 20 January 1853 and together they produced 15 children.[
]
Early political career
In February 1848 Martin nominated as a candidate for a by-election for the electorate of Durham in the New South Wales Legislative Council, but withdrew before polling day. In the general election held later in the same year he was a candidate for the electorate of Counties of Cook and Westmoreland, which he won with a margin of 16%.[ His election however was declared void on the grounds that he did not meet the property qualifications to stand,] however he was re-elected unopposed. Martin subsequently sued the Speaker of the Legislative Council, Charles Nicholson
Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Baronet (23 November 1808 – 8 November 1903) was an English-Australian politician, university founder, explorer, pastoralist, antiquarian and philanthropist. The Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney is nam ...
and the Sergeant at Arms
Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other un ...
, William Christie, for trespass for having him removed when there had been no decision of the Electoral Court
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
in accordance with the ''Electoral Act'' 1843. The Full Court of the Supreme Court held that under the ''Electoral Act'' 1843 it was only the Electoral Court that could determine there was a vacancy and not the Governor.
Martin was an effective legislator but his sharp tongue and intemperate speeches to the House made him few friends among his parliamentary colleagues. His most notable political achievement in his first eight years in office was to initiate the Parliamentary debate that led to the establishment of a branch of the royal mint in Sydney.
In 1856 the partly elected unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
Legislative Council was abolished and replaced with a new parliament with elected members of the Legislative Assembly and appointed members of the Legislative Council. Martin was elected as one of two members for Cook and Westmoreland. When that electorate was largely replaced by the single member electorate of Hartley, Martin successfully stood for the new four member electorate of East Sydney. He was subsequently the member for Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
, Tumut
Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River.
Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...
, Monaro, Lachlan and East Macquarie.[ In August 1856 he was made ]Attorney-General of New South Wales
The Attorney General of New South Wales, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for New South Wales and usually known simply as the Attorney General, is a minister in the Government of New South Wales who has responsibili ...
in the first ministry of Charles Cowper. The appointment was controversial, as Martin was the first holder of the office who had not been admitted as a barrister. He had to resign his seat as a result of accepting the office, however he was re-elected unopposed. The appointment was brief, as the government was defeated in a no-confidence motion in October 1856 and Martin returned to the backbench.
Martin was admitted to the bar in 1856 and was made a Queen's Counsel
In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...
in 1857. He returned as Attorney General in the second Cowper Ministry in September 1857, and was again re-elected unopposed. As Attorney General however, his reputation for intemperate language continued and after a series of conflicts with fellow Ministers he resigned the office in November 1858.
Premier of New South Wales
In October 1863, Martin was asked by the Governor of New South Wales to form a government with a mandate to address rising State deficits and rural unemployment. As Premier and Colonial Secretary Martin promptly introduced measures to reduce immigration and increase tariffs, but was unable to secure Parliamentary support for many of his reforms. With limited achievements to its credit, the government suffered a substantial swing at the 1865 election and Martin stepped down to make way for the return of Charles Cowper.
Cowper was once again defeated in a no-confidence motion in December 1865, and in January 1866 Martin became Premier for the second time as leader of a coalition government with former rival Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has ...
. His government resigned in October 1868, but he returned to the Premiership for a third and final time between December 1870 and May 1872.
After politics
Martin retired from Parliament in November 1873 and was immediately named to the vacant position of Chief Justice of New South Wales. He held the post for 13 years, despite considerable ill health in later life.
James Martin died at home in Potts Point, Sydney on 4 November 1886 and buried in St Judes churchyard in Randwick, NSW. in 1909 his remains were moved to a new underground vault in the impressive Waverley Cemetery
The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915), ...
.
Honours
Martin was made a Queen's Counsel in 1857,[ and was knighted in 1869. ]Martin Place
Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney. , a pedestrian mall in the central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
of Sydney was named after him in 1892. 'Lady Martin Beach' a small beach accessible to the public from Wolseley Road
Wolseley Road is a road in the Sydney suburb of Point Piper. It is one kilometre long. It starts at New South Head Road and curves around the west side of Point Piper, terminating in a dead end above Lady Martins Beach.
Description
As at 20 ...
, Point Piper, New South Wales
Point Piper is a small, harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, east of the Sydney CBD, in the local government area known as the Municipality of Woollahra.
Point Piper has been historically ...
is named after his wife, Isabella who resided at nearby Woollahra House. Late in 2020, two new identical statues were put up in Parramatta and Martin Place as he used to go from Parramatta to Martin Place for school.
See also
* First Martin ministry (1863–1865)
* Second Martin ministry (1866–1868)
* Third Martin ministry (1870–1872)
* 140-142 Cumberland Street, The Rocks
* List of judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
Notes
References
*
The Honourable Sir James Martin, Kt – Law and History 2: Lawlink NSW
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, James
1820 births
1886 deaths
Premiers of New South Wales
Chief Justices of New South Wales
Judges of the Supreme Court of New South Wales
Australian Knights Bachelor
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
People educated at Sydney Grammar School
Burials at Waverley Cemetery
Australian King's Counsel
Attorneys General of the Colony of New South Wales
Colonial Secretaries of New South Wales
Colony of New South Wales judges
19th-century Australian politicians
19th-century Australian judges
People from Midleton
19th-century Australian journalists
19th-century Australian male writers
Australian male journalists