Martin George Poll, (born 1961) is a British

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

priest and former

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

. Since 2012, he has been the Canon Chaplain of

St George's Chapel St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gar ...

, Windsor Castle, and Domestic Chaplain to the Queen. From 2010 to 2012, he was

Archdeacon for the Royal Navy The most senior Anglican chaplain in each branch of the British Armed Forces (Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force) is made an archdeacon in the Church of England. Respectively they are titled the Archdeacon for the Royal Navy, the Archdea ...

and Principal Anglican Chaplain of the

Royal Navy Chaplaincy Services The Royal Navy Chaplaincy Service provides chaplains to the Royal Navy. The chaplains are commissioned by the Sovereign but do not hold military rank other than that of "Chaplain Royal Navy". They are usually addressed as Padre, Reverend or more ...

Early life

Poll was born in 1961 in Enfield, Greater London. He was educated at Edmonton County School, a state school in the London Borough of Enfield. He then studied English and Religious Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1983.

Ordained ministry

Early ministry

In 1984, Poll entered

Ripon College Cuddesdon Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay mi ...

. He spent the next three years training for ordination. One of his placements during training was to the Royal Army Chaplains' Department. He did not feel that the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

was right for him, but remained attracted to

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term '' ...

cy. Poll was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

in the

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1987 and as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1988. From 1987 to 1990, he served his

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at John Keble Church,

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18,45 ...

, London. It was during this time that he saw an advertisement for the

. He was given a tour of the service, and found that it appealed to him.

Military career

In 1990, Poll was commissioned as a

in the

. Chaplains do not hold a rank, only "chaplain", and wear the chaplain's badge as insignia. His appointments included chaplain at HMS ''Raleigh'' (the Royal Navy's

basic training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

facility), and chaplain at

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), commonly known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, ...

(the Royal Navy's initial officer training establishment). As chaplain to the Royal Marines Commando helicopter squadrons, he served abroad in

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In 2007, he became chaplain to , a

light aircraft carrier A light aircraft carrier, or light fleet carrier, is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only one- ...

. He then moved to

HMNB Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...

, where he was leader of its chaplaincy team and chaplain of St Ann's Church (the base's Anglican chapel). On 1 November 2010, Poll was promoted to

Deputy Chaplain of the Fleet The Royal Navy Chaplaincy Service provides chaplains to the Royal Navy. The chaplains are commissioned by the Sovereign but do not hold military rank other than that of "Chaplain Royal Navy". They are usually addressed as Padre, Reverend or mor ...

. As the most senior Anglican chaplain, he was also appointed Principal Anglican Chaplain and the

. As Archdeacon, he was elected to the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

. On 11 December 2011, he was made an Honorary Canon of

Portsmouth Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, commonly known as Portsmouth Cathedral, is an Anglican cathedral church in the centre of Old Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England. It is the cathedral of the Diocese of Portsmouth and the seat o ...

. On 7 August 2012, Poll stepped down as Deputy Chaplain of the Fleet; he was succeeded by

Ian Wheatley Ian James Wheatley, (born 1962) is a British Anglican priest and former Royal Navy officer. From 2014 to 2018, he has served as Chaplain of the Fleet, the senior military chaplain of the Royal Navy: he had also served as Deputy Chaplain of the F ...

. He retired from the Royal Navy on 29 October 2012.

Later ministry

Poll was installed as a

Canon of Windsor The Dean and Canons of Windsor are the ecclesiastical body of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Foundation The college of canons was established in 1348 by Letters Patent of King Edward III. It was formally constituted on the feast of ...

on 1 October 2012. He serves as Canon Chaplain of

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original c ...

, and Chaplain to the Great Park. On 1 November 2010, Poll was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen (QHC). June 2014, Poll was appointed Domestic Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen (Windsor Great Park).

Personal life

Poll is married to Diana. Together they have two children: a daughter and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poll, Martin George 1961 births Living people Church of England priests 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century English Anglican priests Royal Navy chaplains People from Enfield, London People educated at Edmonton County School Alumni of the University of Kent Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon Honorary Chaplains to the Queen Church of England archdeacons (military)