Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Sir David James Martin, (15 April 1933 – 10 August 1990) was a senior officer of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

and later

Governor of New South Wales The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, Governor-General of Australia at the national level, the governor ...

. He also established the Sir David Martin Foundation to assist young Australians in crisis.

Early life and Naval career

Born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on 15 April 1933, Martin came from a long line of naval officers. He was descended from Lieutenant George Johnston, one of the Royal Marines of the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

, and the convict

Esther Abrahams Esther Abrahams (born c. 1767 or 1771 – died 26 August 1846) was a Londoner sent to Australia as a convict on the First Fleet. She was de facto wife of George Johnston, who was for six months acting Governor of New South Wales after leading ...

. Their son, Robert, was the first Australian born person to enlist in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, which he joined in 1805. In 1942, when David was nine years old, his father was lost in action following the sinking of of which he was Deputy Commander. Martin attended Scots College in Bellevue Hill from 1939–1946 before joining the RAN as a cadet midshipman and entering the

Royal Australian Naval College HMAS Creswell is a training facility of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) that includes the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) as well as the School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Beecroft Weapons Range, and an administrative support depa ...

in 1947. He also attended the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, before serving aboard HMAS ''Sydney'' during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, then aboard the aircraft carriers and . He was an officer on , participating in the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between April 1955 and March 1959. The National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), a Greek Cypriot right-wing nationalist guerrilla organisation, began an armed campaign in s ...

, and the Iceland emergency (also known as the "

Cod Wars The Cod Wars (; also known as , ; ) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about Exclusive economic zone, fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended ...

"), in 1959–1960. He was promoted to Commander of the Third Australian Destroyer Squadron in 1974 and commanded several RAN ships, including HMA Ships ''Queenborough'', ''Torrens'', ''Supply'' and ''Melbourne''. Martin was promoted to flag rank in 1982 and served as Chief of Naval Personnel and as Commander of Naval Support Command until he retired in February 1988. On 26 January 1985, the Queen appointed Martin an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) "for service as the Chief of Naval Personnel and flag officer Naval Support Command".

Marriage

Martin married Suzanne Millear in 1957 and had three children, one of whom was a Captain in the Royal Australian Navy.

Later life

Martin was knighted as a

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

(KCMG) in 1988, shortly before being appointed the

. Martin set about establishing a relationship between his office as governor and the people of New South Wales. He soon became known as 'the people's Governor'. Just three days before his death, Martin resigned as governor due to an advancing medical condition. He made arrangements for the Sir David Martin Foundation to be established, which runs programs that help young homeless and disadvantaged Australians. Sir David died on 10 August 1990 of

pleural The pleural cavity, or pleural space (or sometimes intrapleural space), is the potential space between the pulmonary pleurae, pleurae of the pleural sac that surrounds each lung. A small amount of serous fluid, serous pleural fluid is maintained ...

mesothelioma, a rare form of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

caused by

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

, to which he was exposed during his naval career. He engendered much respect and sympathy when seen struggling for breath during the final days of his service as governor. At his funeral the

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...

Nick Greiner Nicholas Frank Hugo Greiner (; born 27 April 1947) is an Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. Greiner was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 and ...

noted: His service in the Royal Australian Navy is commemorated in the Naval Chapel, Garden Island NSW. After his death,

Woollahra Council Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Sydney Harbour in the north, Waverley Council in the east, Ra ...

named the former site of ''HMAS Rushcutter'' in

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb of Rushcutters Ba ...

as the "Sir David Martin Reserve" in his honour.

Honours

References

External links

Sir David Martin Foundation – Helping young people in crisis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, David 1933 births 1990 deaths Military personnel from Sydney Australian people of Scottish descent Australian military personnel of the Korean War Deaths from lung cancer in Australia Deaths from mesothelioma in Australia Governors of New South Wales Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Graduates of the Royal Australian Naval College Australian Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at Scots College (Sydney) Royal Australian Navy admirals Knights of Justice of the Order of St John Deaths from cancer in New South Wales