Martin, Sir James, 1820 – 1886

Sir James Martin (1820-1886), journalist, barrister, parliamentarian, Chief Justice and Premier, was born at Cork, Ireland, son of John and Mary Martin. The family arrived at Sydney in 1821 and lived at Parramatta where Martin was educated. He became a journalist on the Australian newspaper before being articled to solicitor G.R. Nichols. In 1838 he published a book of patriotic essays 'The Australian Sketchbook'. Martin was admitted as a solicitor in 1845 and established a successful practice in the police courts. He was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1856 and appointed Queen's Counsel in 1857.

Martin was an elected member of the old Legislative Council (1848-1956). He was elected member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for the seats of Cook and Westmoreland (1856-1859), East Sydney (1959-1860), Orange (1862-1863), The Tumut (1863-1864), Monaro (1864-1865), The Lachlan (1864-1869), East Sydney (1869-1872) and for East Macquarie (1872-1873). Martin was Attorney-General (1856, 1857-1858) and Premier and Attorney-General (1863-1865, 186-1868, 1870-1872). From 1873 to 1886 Martin was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW.[ref:ADB 5]