Born:
October 3 1834 – February 14, 1904

Call Year:
1855

Distinguished as:
One of the longest standing members of the Law Society of Upper Canada 

Biography:

Edward Martin, son of Richard Martin and Emily Sylvia Kirwin, was born on the family estate, ‘Denclare,’ in Haldiman County. He came to Hamilton as a young man, where he received private tuition with William Tassie. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1855, he practised in Hamilton for nearly fifty years. He was esteemed by colleagues and the general public as one of Hamilton’s ablest lawyers.

He was a senior member of the law firm Martin and Martin, a partnership he formed with his older, Irish-born brother Richard. He was appointed queen’s counsel in 1855 for Ontario and nine years later for the dominion. He served as a president of the Hamilton Law Association from 1890 until his death. He was one of the longest standing members in the Law Society of Upper Canada, Martin was a member of the corporation of Trinity College, Toronto, and of the governing body of Trinity College in 1891.

Martin was appointed director of the Equal Rights Association as its inception in about 1884. He served as vice-president of the Hamilton Street Railway Co. for several years and was president of both the Ontario and Hamilton cricket cubs. Martin was a parishioner of Christ’s Church Cathedral. He was appointed first chancellor of Niagara at the time of its designation as a diocese and served as legal advisor to Hamilton in 1870 and renamed in ‘Ballinahinch’ after the castle owned by his grandfather, Richard ‘Humanity’ Martin MP, in Conemara, Ireland.

Source: "Martin, Edward.," Dictionary of Hamilton Biography, Volume II (1876-1924) pg 101.