Sir William Martin (1807 – 18 November 1880) was the first
Chief Justice of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, from 1841 until he resigned in 1857.
Biography
Originally from the family of the Martins of
Long Melford
Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by ...
,
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, Martin was born in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. He was born in 1807 and baptised on 22 May 1807.
He was educated at
King Edward VI Grammar School,
Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
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, and
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...
. On 3 April 1841, he married
Mary Ann Parker at
St Ethelburga's Bishopsgate
St Ethelburga-the-Virgin within Bishopsgate is a Church of England church in the City of London, located on Bishopsgate near Liverpool Street station.
The church was severely damaged by an IRA bomb in 1993. Following rebuilding and restoration i ...
where her father was rector.
He was appointed Chief Justice of the
Colony of New Zealand
The Colony of New Zealand was a Crown colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that encompassed the islands of New Zealand from 1841 to 1907. The power of the British government was vested in the Governor of New Zealand, as th ...
by the
Colonial Office
The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created to deal with the colonial affairs of British North America but required also to oversee the increasing number of col ...
in January 1841 (warrant under Royal sign manual 5 February 1841; sworn 10 January 1842), and arrived in New Zealand in August 1841.
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He worked in New Zealand with Henry Samuel Chapman, who in 1843 was appointed Judge for New Munster Province, New Munster, the southern Provinces of New Zealand, province of New Zealand including Wellington and the South Island, and was resident judge at Wellington for eight years to 1852. They produced the 1852 ''Report on Supreme Court Procedure for New Zealand''. Sir William also sat
on circuit as a judge around New Zealand.
Martin, the
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
William Swainson and
Thomas Outhwaite, the first Registrar of the Supreme Court, were responsible for setting up the New Zealand judicial system.
Martin, a friend of
Bishop George Selwyn was sympathetic to the missionary and evangelical aspirations of the Anglican Church in the South Pacific, and to the Māori. Martin was appointed one of the two lay members of the council of
St John’s College in 1850; and acted as a co-examiner with Bishop Selwyn of candidates for ordination in the Anglican church.
He wrote protests against the Crown's disregard of its moral obligations under the
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...
and the
invasion of Taranaki.
He resigned on 12 June 1857, and was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in 1860. Martin was one of the authors of a book written in support of the native people of New Zealand called ''Extracts of letters from New Zealand on the war question''. He created it with his wife, Mary Ann,
George
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* George (given name)
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* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
and
Sarah Selwyn
Sarah Harriet Selwyn ( Richardson; 2 September 1807 – 24 March 1907) was the wife of George Augustus Selwyn, the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand and later of Lichfield. Often left behind to manage missionary stations while her husband tr ...
,
Charles Abraham and his wife
Caroline. This book was distributed privately after being printed in London in 1861.
He returned to England in 1874, dying at
Torquay
Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...
in 1880.
As a judge, Sir William Martin was courteous and patient, but firm, impartial, and of unimpeachable integrity.
References
External links
Biography in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, William
1807 births
1880 deaths
New Zealand Knights Bachelor
Lawyers from Birmingham, West Midlands
Chief justices of New Zealand
High Court of New Zealand judges
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
Colony of New Zealand judges