John (Johnny) Martin (1822 – 17 May 1892) was a "labourer, carter, merchant, politician, runholder, ndland speculator".

Early life

Martin was born in

Moneymore Moneymore () is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,897 in the 2011 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster District. It is an example of a plantation village in Mid-Ulster built by the Drap ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

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 ...

on 11 November 1822. His family travelled to New Zealand on , eventually landing at

Port Nicholson A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more Wharf, wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can a ...

, on 17 March 1841.

Political career

Martin was made a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

William Fitzherbert William Fitzherbert may refer to: *Saint William of York, Archbishop of York *William Fitzherbert (New Zealand politician) (1810–1891), New Zealand politician * Sir William FitzHerbert, 1st Baronet (1748–1791), of Derbyshire *William Fitzherb ...

in 1876, and in 1878 was called to the

New Zealand Legislative Council The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a co ...

by Premier

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...

. He was to be a member of the Legislative Council from 25 July 1878 to 17 May 1892, when he died. During his 14-year career in the Legislative Council, he only spoke four times, and came to be known as the "silent member".

References

1822 births 1892 deaths Members of the New Zealand Legislative Council Politicians from County Londonderry Settlers of New Zealand 19th-century New Zealand politicians Irish emigrants to New Zealand (before 1923) {{NewZealand-politician-stub