Old Martin was a large

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

given in 1811, when already full-sized, to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

. The bear was sent to the Royal Menagerie, housed at the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. Although this was the first grizzly bear in England, the king said he would rather have had been given a new tie or a pair of socks. The Royal Menagerie was closed in 1831 or 1832 by the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

, the governor of the Tower. The bear and other animals were moved to the new

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

– Old Martin died there in 1838. Writing in 1829 the zoologist

Edward Turner Bennett Edward Turner Bennett (6 January 1797 – 21 August 1836) was an English zoologist and writer. He was the elder brother of the botanist John Joseph Bennett.

said as a conclusion to his chapter on grizzly bears: Menagerie

During Old Martin's stay at the Tower, in 1816, a

Yeomen Warder The Yeomen Warders of His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, popularly known as the Beefeaters, are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. ...

on night duty saw a ghostly bear near the Martin Tower and, terrified, he struck at it with his bayonet only to find it went right through the vision and stuck into the door behind. It was said the guard died of shock a few hours afterwards. Old Martin was not the first bear to have lived at the Tower of London because in 1251 Henry III had been given a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

by the king of Norway,

Haakon the Young Haakon Haakonsson the Young (Norwegian: ''Håkon Håkonsson Unge'', Old Norse: ''Hákon Hákonarson hinn ungi'') (10 November 1232 – 5 May 1257) was the son of king Haakon Haakonsson of Norway, and held the title of king, subordinate to his fa ...

. In 1999 Old Martin's skin and feet were found at the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

, catalogued as a "black bear", and were returned to the Tower for a special exhibition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Old Tower of London Individual bears Grizzly bears London Zoo English ghosts 1838 animal deaths Individual animals in England

See also

Further reading

References