Albert Edward Martin

Albert Edward Martin (1876 – 26 July 1936) was an English merchant and Liberal Party, later Conservative politician.

Date of birth

According to the source, Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page, Martin was born in 1875[1] but Who was Who gives his date of birth as 1876.[2] According to the brief obituary in The Times newspaper, Martin was aged 59 years when he died, which supports the report of his date of birth as 1876.[3]

Family

Martin married Edith Savory in 1909 and they had a son and two daughters.[2]

Career

Martin was a successful merchant. He was head of a firm in Southend-on-Sea in Essex.[4] He was also a member of the Territorial Army, rising to the rank of Honorary Colonel of the 52nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade, (T.A) and he was responsible for raising the 156th Battery.[3] Martin also served as a Justice of the Peace.[2]

Politics

Parliamentary candidate, 1918

Martin was selected as Liberal candidate for Romford in Essex to fight the 1918 general election in succession to the sitting Liberal MP, Sir John Bethell who had transferred to the nearby seat of East Ham North. Both Martin and Bethell were awarded the Coalition coupon for the election and both were returned. In Romford, Martin faced a Labour opponent and one from the left-wing National Socialist Party. In the absence of a Conservative, with the Labour vote split and with the endorsement of the coupon, Martin won the seat comfortably with a majority of 5,256 votes.[5]

1922

At the 1922 general election Martin stood as a National Liberal, that is to say as a supporter of outgoing Prime Minister David Lloyd George of whose Coalition government he had been a supporter. Again without a Conservative opponent, Martin was involved in a straight fight against Labour. He held his seat by a majority of 4,103 votes.[6]

1923

Martin's years of working with the Conservatives in Parliament and presumably at a local level, must have played a part in his decision in 1923 to leave the Liberals and join the Tories. As the 1923 general election approached Martin was adopted by the Romford Conservatives as their candidate for the contest.[7] However this move was resented by some in the constituency and this bitterness could have proved problematic for Martin's election campaign. In the event the potential difficulties never presented themselves as Martin withdrew from the fray on the grounds that his health had broken down. The Conservatives selected another candidate Charles Rhys to represent them [8] and Rhys went on to win the seat, holding it until 1929.[6]

Local politics

Martin continued to enjoy a political career at local government level. He was charter mayor of the new Municipal Borough of Barking in 1931[9] and was re-elected mayor in November 1932. He was sometime chairman of Barking Education Committee and of the Food Control Committee.[2] He was also an alderman of the Borough.[10]

Death

Martin died at his home, Oak Hall, The Leas, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, on 26 July 1936.[3]

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Who was Who, OUP 2007
  3. The Times, 28 July 1936 p16
  4. The Times House of Commons 1919; Politico’s Publishing 2004 p52
  5. The Times House of Commons 1919; Politico’s Publishing 2004 p52
  6. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow, 1949 p355
  7. The Times, 17 November 1923 p13
  8. The Times, 24 November 1923 p14
  9. The Times, 12 August 1931 p7
  10. The Times, 25 January 1933 p12
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sir John Bethell		 Member of Parliament for Romford
1918 – 1923		 Succeeded by
Charles Rhys
Civic offices
Preceded by
New position		 Mayor of Barking
1931–1934		 Succeeded by
Alfred George Edwards
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