Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Sir Richard Edward Rowley Martin (2 September 1847 – 15 May 1907) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

officer and colonial official. Martin was born in

Hemingstone Hemingstone is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England located 6.5 miles (11 km) north of Ipswich. Hemingstone lies in the hundred of Bosmere. It is a small parish devoted largely to fruit farmi ...

, the fourth son of Richard Bartholomew Martin, of

Hemingstone Hall Hemingstone Hall is a Jacobean manor house in Hemingstone close to Ipswich in Suffolk, England. It was built in the early 17th Century, around 1625, for William Style. The house is of two storeys, with attics, and is built to an H-plan in red br ...

, Suffolk. Martin purchased a commission in the

77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot The 77th (East Middlesex) Regiment of Foot (The Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line regiment of the British Army, raised in 1787. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 57th (West Middlesex) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Cam ...

in 1867; he subsequently transferred into the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. He served in the First Boer War of 1881 and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1886. In 1888 he was British Commissioner in

Togoland Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kno ...

. In 1889 he became the commanding officer of his regiment, and Martin was promoted to colonel in 1890. Between 1890 and 1895 he served as British Representative on the late Provisional Government Committee in

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, and was made

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in 1895. Martin subsequently became Commandant-General of the

British South Africa Company The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...

's police in Bechuanaland, Matabeleland and Mashonaland until 1898. He was made

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

in the

1898 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1898 were announced on 21 May 1898 in celebration of the birthday of Queen Victoria. The list included appointments to various orders and honours of the United Kingdom and British India. The list was published in '' ...

. He married Efa Florence Phillipps, daughter of Major Charles Burch Phillipps, of Barham Hall, Suffolk, in 1898. They had a son and daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Richard Edward Rowley People from Mid Suffolk District 1847 births 1907 deaths 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons officers 77th Regiment of Foot officers British South Africa Police officers Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath British military personnel of the First Boer War Military personnel from Suffolk