Family and Education

b. ?1689, 1st s. of Thomas Martyn, merchant, of Plymouth, Devon by his w. née Addis of Egg Buckland, Devon. educ. Pemb. Oxf. 29 Mar. 1707, aged 17; M. Temple 1710, called 1714. m. 6 Oct. 1719, Elizabeth, da. of Sir Francis Drake, 3rd Bt., M.P., of Buckland, Devon, sis. of Sir Francis Drake, 4th Bt., 2da. suc. fa. bef. 1716.

Offices Held

Sec. of the commissions of the peace to the ld. chancellor, Lord King 1725; justice for Caernarvon, Merioneth and Anglesey 1726-d.

Biography

In 1722 Martyn’s brother-in-law, Sir Francis Drake, recommended him for Dartmouth to Lord Chief Justice King, one of the government managers in the west of England, with whom he had travelled on the western circuit. Returned unopposed for Dartmouth, as a government supporter,1 he did not stand again, devoting himself to his duties on the Welsh circuit. In 1741 he applied unsuccessfully for a judicial office to Lord Hardwicke on the ground that

I have long faithfully served the Crown in Wales, and I hope my conduct there or elsewhere hath not been unserviceable to the common interest. The gout makes travelling in the mountains very fatiguing, and there being a vacancy in Ireland by the death of Mr. Baron Wainwright I humbly beg your Lordship for a remove thither. Such a promotion will make me perfectly happy and another gentleman may choose to continue here with my present commission rather than go abroad.2

He died 17 May 1750, leaving his wife and her ‘unhappy daughters’ in extreme poverty.3

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Shirley Matthews

Notes

• 1. Lady E. F. Eliott-Drake, Fam. and Heirs of Sir Francis Drake, ii. 203-3, 222; HMC Townshend, 137.
• 2. 16 May 1741, Add. 35586, f. 358.
• 3. Eliott-Drake, ii. 261.