- Thomas Barnwall Martin
Thomas Barnwall Martin (1784 – April 1847) was an Irish landowner and politician.
Martin was the eldest surviving son of
Richard Martin ("Humanity Dick") ,Member of Parliament for Galway County, by his first wife. Following an unhappy conclusion to a love affair with the daughter of a localchandler , by whom he appears to have had an illegitimate son, Thomas left home to join the army. He served at the siege ofBadajoz ,Spain in 1812, where he was severely wounded.Despite a personal commendation by the Duke of Wellington himself, Martin returned to
Ireland where he later married, inherited the family estate centered atBallinahinch Castle inConnemara , and successfully ran for his father's former seat in Parliament in 1832 and served in this position until his death, byfamine fever , in 1847.He was married to Julia Kirwan, daughter of Patrick Kirwan of Dalgan Park. She had a dowry of £15,000. They had one daughter,
Mary Laetitia Martin (d.30 October 1850 ), an author who married Arthur G. Bell.References
*"Humanity Dick", Shevawn Lynam, 1975.
*"The Tribes of Galway", byAdrian James Martyn ,Galway , 2001.
*"The Eccentric Member for Galway", Peter Phillips, 2003.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.