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MARTIN, EDWARD JAMES
- Born: - Died: 1903
Architect and engineer of Cork and India. Edward James Martin appears to have been a son of EDWARD GEORGE MARTIN of Cork and a brother of WILLIAM EDWARD MARTIN and possibly also of JAMES W. MARTIN . He served his pupilage with his father, circa 1851-1855, and with GEORGE MACKAY MILLER . He also worked in the offices of JOHN BENSON and WILLIAM ATKINS . From 1855 to 1859 he was assistant engineer and architect to the Great Southern & Western Railway Company under Miller.
In 1859, having passed the required competitive examination, Martin left Ireland for India to take up an appointment as assistant engineer in the Indian Public Works Department. The rest of his career was spent in India, where he rose to the rank of superintending engineer in the Public Works Department and became architect to the Bengal Parliament. He also established a private practice in 1866. In 1861 he was mentioned in the Dublin Builder as having won a competition to design a monument for those who had fallen at the siege of Delhi during the Indian Mutiny.(1) He designed a clock tower in Delhi, which was described and illustrated in The Builder in 1874.(2) In that year he appears to have visited Ireland.(3) He died in 1903.
Inst.CE: elected member, 4 May 1875.(4)
RIBA: elected associate, 30 November 1874; elected fellow, 11 June 1883.
See WORKS.
References
All information in this entry not otherwise accounted for is from Directory of British Architects 1834-1914 (RIBA 2001), II, 139
and from Martin's candidate's circular for membership of Inst.CE. 18 Jan 1875, in Inst.CE archives (courtesy of Susannah Roberts).
(1) DB 3, 15 Nov 1861, 689. The brief note cites the Cork Constitution, which describes Martin as 'E.G. Martin, Esq., Assistant Executive Engineer, Delhi…son to Mr E.C. Martin, builder, of this city'.
(2) B 32, 14 Feb 1874, 120,132(illus.).
(3) He gives 2 Lower Janemount, Sundays Well Road, Cork, 1874, as his address in a letter to the secretary of RIBA, 2 Oct 1874 (information from Mrs A. M. Fenton (great-granddaughter of William Edward Martin), White Roses, Canon Pyon Road, Hereford, in letter of 21 May 2002).
(4) Min.Proc.Inst.CE 42 ((1874-75, Pt IV), 211.
2 work entries listed in chronological order for MARTIN, EDWARD JAMES
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| Building: | INDIA, DELHI, SIEGE MONUMENT |
| Date: | 1861 |
| Nature: | Winning entry (from 180) for monument to those who fell at Siege of Delhi during Indian Mutiny. (Is this the clock tower, q.v.?) |
| Refs: | DB 3, 15 Nov 1861, 689 |
| Building: | INDIA, DELHI, CLOCK TOWER |
| Date: | 1874a |
| Nature: | Gothic clock tower opposite town hall. |
| Refs: | B 32, 14 Feb 1874, 120,132(illus.). |