Sir Richard Biddulph Martin, 1st Baronet (12 May 1838 – 23 August 1916) was an English banker and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

(and later

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a politic ...

) politician. Martin was the older of two sons of Robert Martin (1808–1897) of Overbury Court near

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and his wife, Mary Ann (d. 1892), who was the daughter of John Biddulph of the banking firm of Cocks, Biddulph & Co. His younger brother John Biddulph Martin was also a banker and statistician. Robert Martin was a partner of the Grasshopper Bank, which later became

Martins Bank Martins Bank was a London private bank, trading for much of its time under the symbol of “The Grasshopper”, that could trace its origins back to the London goldsmiths. Martins agreed to its acquisition by the Bank of Liverpool in 1918. The Ba ...

. He was educated at Harrow School and at

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, before joining his maternal grandfather's bank. He later became one of the founders of the

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and of the

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. Martin first stood for election to the

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at the 1868 general election, when he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Eastern division of Worcestershire. He was unsuccessful again in next candidacy, at the 1880 general election in the

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. However, 3 months later he was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

at a by-election held in July 1880 after the result of the general election in April was overturned on petition. Several of his ancestors had held the seat in the past, but Richard was the last Martin to represent Tewkesbury. The Parliamentary Borough of Tewkesbury was abolished under the Reform Act 1885 and replaced with a wider

county division In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called "constituenc ...

of Gloucestershire. At the 1885 general election, he did not stand for re-election in the new Tewkesbury division of Gloucestershire, contesting instead the Chelmsford division of Essex, but without success. When the Liberal Party split over

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...

, he joined the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party, and stood as a Liberal Unionist in the Ashburton division of Devon, again without success. He finally returned to

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at the 1892 general election as MP for the Droitwich division of Worcestershire, replacing the Liberal Unionist

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, who had retired. Martin remained Droitwich's MP until he stood down at the 1906 general election. He was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

on 12 December 1905, of Overbury Court, in

. He died childless, and the title became extinct on his death. He was Prime Warden of the

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from 1899 to 1900, and President of the

Royal Statistical Society The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good. ...

from 1906 to 1907.

References

External links

*
Richard Biddulph Martin
in the National Register of Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Richard 1838 births 1916 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1880–1885 Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Droitwich Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Tewkesbury Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society Members of the Privy Council of Ireland