New statue to commemorate how former NSW premier SirJohn Martin walked miles from Parramatta to find his place in Sydney

THE young boy walking from Parramatta to Sydney would have gone largely unnoticed by most traffic on Parramatta Rd in 1833, but James Martin would later become an influential politician and justice.

Veteran sculptor Alan Somerville’s statue of Sir James Martin as a child walking to school from Parramatta to Sydney. Picture: Courtesy City of Parramatta Council

MOST people would have taken little notice of the young boy walking along Parramatta Rd toward Sydney in the 1830s. Carrying his books he would have looked like any other schoolboy. But James Martin was one determined young man. Every day he made the 20km trek from his parents’ home in Parramatta, to a prestige boy’s school near Hyde Park in Sydney, although sometimes he would hitch for a ride.

Martin was the son of a servant who worked for the governor, but he had firmly resolved to rise above his humble origins, through hard work and natural intelligence. The walking paid off when he later became NSW premier and chief justice and gave his name to Sydney’s great public space Martin Place.

Now his walk to school is being commemorated with a statue being unveiled today in Parramatta by Lord Mayor Cr Andrew Wilson and NSW Treasurer Dominic Perottet. The mayor said of the statue, “An important acknowledgment can be made … honouring the achievements of a great ‘local boy’ and bringing to light a little-known Parramatta story, reflecting the important role of Parramatta in the nation’s history.”

NSW Premier Sir James Martin circa 1860.

Sir James Martin, when he was admitted to the Bar in 1856. Engraving by H. S. Sadd.

While a significant part of Martin’s story belongs to Parramatta, it begins in Ireland where he was born in Midleton, County Cork, in 1820.

He was 18 months old when his father John and mother Mary, arrived in Sydney aboard the John Barry to take up the post of private groom to the Governor of NSW, Sir Thomas Brisbane. Ordinarily the groom would have operated out of a stable in Sydney, at that time Governor Brisbane preferred living at Government House in Parramatta where the Martin family went to live, in a cottage adjoining the stables.

Martin grew up in what was then a rural area, with forests, fields and homes owned by prominent citizens who came to Parramatta to curry favour with the governor.

Martin was educated at schools in Parramatta set up by private tutors, showing great promise as a student. His father and mother then saved enough money to enrol him in one of Sydney’s finest schools, William Timothy “W.T.” Cape’s Academy in Sydney. When his father was unable to find work or lodgings close to the city, Martin refused to let that stop him going, instead he insisted he would walk to school.

Under Cape’s tutelage he excelled and later became a boarder at the school. By the time he graduated he was already contributing writings to newspapers and in 1838 published The Australian Sketchbook, a series of essays about Australia.

The book was dedicated to solicitor George Nichols, who Martin worked for when Nichols purchased The Australian newspaper in 1839. Martin became a clerk in the law firm Nichol’s founded, Clayton Utz, but continued to work in newspapers, where he criticised the government.

In 1845 he was admitted as a solicitor, and having made some important connections he soon built up an impressive law practice. From there it was a natural step to politics and in 1848 he entered the Legislative Council, winning a seat in a by-election, only to lose his seat in 1849 when it was found that he didn’t meet the property qualification. He regained his seat a month later.

Statues of Sir James Martin by veteran sculptor Alan Somerville, whose craftsmanship also gave Sydney the valiant soldiers standing guard on the Anzac bridge.

Statue of Sir James Martin as a child walking to school from Parramatta to Sydney. Picture: Courtesy City of Parramatta Council

Martin married Isabella Long, daughter of William Long a wealthy wine merchant, in 1853. They had eight sons and seven daughters.

In August 1856 he became attorney-general for NSW under Premier Charles Cowper, but he lost his ministry when Cowper’s government fell in October. Objections had been raised to his appointment in that he had not become a barrister. He was admitted to the bar in 1856 and became the first Australian-trained QC in 1857.

When the colony was struck by problems over a rising deficit and high unemployment, Martin was the only politician who seemed to have a plan and he was called on to form a government in October 1863. But the hard reforms he elected to take saw him ousted in February 1865. He was back again as premier within a year, this time lasting more than two years in the job before his government resigned in 1868.

During this term he hosted Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and also, as a QC, prosecuted the gunman who attempted to kill the prince. In 1869 he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of Bath.

He served a third term as premier from 1870 to 1872, but he had run out of ideas. His friend politician Henry Parkes later said that Martin had come to love power for its own sake.

Martin retired from parliament and in 1873 was appointed Chief Justice, a role he filled with great professionalism and wisdom even as his health declined before his death in November 1886.

Within days of Martin’s death, Parkes, then NSW premier, proposed that the thoroughfare alongside the General Post Office (then running from George St to Castlereagh St,) should be named Martin Place, in his honour.