Wellington magnate: the Honourable John Martin, his children and their milieu, 1841 - 1918

Abstract

When the Honourable John Martin, M.L.C., died in 1892, his assets were worth 129,529. His urban holdings consisted of 11 acres of land including 25 houses and 3 hotels in Wellington City; 4 acres with one hotel in Lower Hutt; and 5 acres in Featherston. His rural holdings encompassed 32,200 acres in the Wairarapa. After his death, John Martin was described as "a self-made man, having raised himself by untiring energy and perseverance from the bottom of the ladder". If this was so, how had he done it? What manner of man was he? And how typical was he of other men of fortune of his time?