Martin Family
John Martin Sr. (1809-1861)
is the Great-Great-Grandfather
of Olive May Davis Osmond
John Martin Jr. (1846-1900)
was the Great-Grandfather
of Olive May Davis Osmond
Edward Pritchard Martin (1844-1910)
was a "first cousin three times removed"
to Olive May Davis Osmond
Edward Pritchard Martin and his wife, Margaret James, along with two of their daughters (Clara and Sarah Martin), are buried in the Martin Family Grave Plot in the Old Cemetery off Old Hereford Road in Abergavenny, Wales
Charles Herbert George Martin (1881-1915)
was a "second cousin twice removed"
to Olive May Davis Osmond
Historical Account of Charles Herbert George Martin
An extensive historical account of Charles Herbert George Martin is listed online under the title of The Life and Military Career of Lieutenant Charles Henry [Herbert] George Martin (written by Ted King and posted online on 3 August 2008) and can be found on the website of the Western Front Association. This website states in part some of the following information about Charles Herbert George Martin:
"...Charles Henry [Herbert] George Martin was born, on 5 October 1882, his family lived in the small community of Dowlais, Glamorgan. He was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Pritchard Martin, a Mining Engineer and Colliery owner.
"Mr. E. P. Martin bought The Hill, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire in 1902, a beautiful country house, overlooking the surrounding mountains and Town, the estate and the gardens so vast that they swept down to the Herefort Road. Charles came to live there with his parents and two of his Five sisters, the other sisters already married and with homes of their own.
"Charles was educated at Eton and then went on to the Magdalen College, Oxford and gained degrees in Biology. He was very intelligent and academically minded and his career took him to Glasgow University where he was the Demonstrator in Zoology, as well as being a lecturer at Oxford. While living and working in Glasgow he joined the University's O T C and was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant (T.F), 12 October 1909.
"He was equally well know as an eminent lecturer at Cambridge and in the Colleges of Naples too and as a renowned European scientst and published several books on Protozoology. When the Great War was declared he had been preparing papers for Rothampsted Experimental Station at Harpenden.
"Charles's father died in 1911 leaving Mrs. Martin at The Hill and on 5 June 1912 Lieutenant Martin was posted to the local area and joined the 3rd Monmouths. On 11 June he and Miss Beatrice Elsie Hanbury were married in St. Mary's Church, Abergavenny. She was one of the most eligible ladies of the Borough, the only child of F. P. J. Hanbury JP DL of Nantoer and living with her family on a picturesque estate just outside of the Town. The wedding was a most splendid affair, which was only to be expected when two of the most notable families of the County were united. Charles and his bride joined his family home and the following year on 12 April they were blessed with their only son, Charles Edward Capel Martin. When at home Charles was family orientated, a home loving man and always a very competent all round sportsman. He was a keen follower of the Monmouthshire Hounds and Master of the Crickhowell Harriers, very much a popular citizen.
"As a lieutenant in the 3rd Mons Regiment he applied himself, with characteristic thoroughness, to his military career; proud to be a soldier in the Monmouthshire Voluntary and Territorial Forces; proud to give of his knowledge after thoroughly studying his favourite weapon, the machine gun; proud to be a Welshman. So it was only to be expected, that as a fighting man of Wales, he would give of his best and prove to be honourable far from his homeland, in the tune of Britain's greatest trial, the 1914-18 War.
"...On 1 May Lieutenant Charles Herbert George Martin was killed in fierce hand to hand fighting. He was one of the many casualties at Frezenberg that day and one of the few to have the honour of a marked grave. Throughout the day the number of Welsh casulaties rose and by night, with great difficulty, the wounded had to be brought in. The dead were buried where they fell.
"What was written about Lieutenant Martin on that day is as follows: "On May 1st Lt. Martin the M. G. Officer was killed. He was a great loss, an Officer greatly loved by his own men: 'My people' as he always called them, and a keen machine gunner.
"...The first time I stood at his [Charles Herbert George Martin] graveside in 1993, Plot 5, Sanctuary Wood, Ypres, [Leper, West-Glaanderen, Blegium], I did wonder if anyone, his family or friends from Wales, had ever visited his grave before.
"...In the local newspapers there was only a very small account of his death, giving the briefest details and when checking in subsequent newspapers nothing else appeared, it was disappointing not to see his photograph.
"The Martin family burial plot is in the Old Cemetery, Hereford Road, Abergavenny. It is a very large burial plot, surmounted by a Welsh stone Celtic Cross and in the area of the Cemetery where the notable citizens of the Town were buried. Was it to have been for all the members of the Martin family? For only Lieutenant Martin's father, mother and two unmarried sisters are buried there and on the base of the Cross he is commemorated, as being killed and buried at Ypres on 2 May 1915.
"Twice Charles [Herbert George] Martin must have stood, as the son and heir, at this graveside plot for the burial of his parents, his mother being buried 1912. How sad to think that only three years later he too died, at Ypres.
"At one time the Martin burial plot must have been most beautiful and surmounted by iron railings. The octogenarian sextant, Mr. Hicks, an Abergavenny man of 89, proudly showing me the location of the plot, he said that the family had left money with the Council to have the plot kept in good order. The railings have now been cut off, the moss is obliterating the inlaid metallic words and the grave looks very forgotten. The finances must have finally expired and perhaps there are now no longer any members of the family left in the area to attend the grave.
"...What happened to Charles Edward Capel Martin I often wonder? But then this is another story [to] be researched in the future perhaps."
Charles Edward Capel Martin (1913-1998)
was a "third cousin once removed"
to Olive May Davis Osmond
