IRELAND BEFORE AND AFTER THE UNION WITH GREAT BRITAIN

Martin, R. Montgomery

Published by Wm. S. Orr and Co, London, England, 1843

Octavo, 8.5 in. x 6.5 in., pp. xii, [2], 424. Illustrated with frontispiece fold-out map of Ireland showing projected railroad lines and fold-out statistical chart. Full contemporary horizontal grain morocco with gilt and blind-tooled frame. Gilt title on black panel to spine. Four gilt-decorated raised bands to spine. Marbled edges. Bindery sticker ("Manderson, Brighton") to front pastedown. Errata slip (5 in. x 2 in.) bound in at page 1. Half-inch chip to rear free endpaper. Bent bottom corners to pages 303-322. Age-toning to pages. Several creases to map. Robert Montgomery Martin (c. 1801 1868) was an Anglo-Irish author and civil servant. He was the first Colonial Treasurer of Hong Kong (1844-45), and member of the Statistical Society of London (1834), the Colonial Society (1837), and the East India Association (1867). He was born in Dublin and trained as a doctor. In 1820 he went to Ceylon, under the patronage of Sir Hardinge Giffard, a friend of his father. He went on to the Cape of Good Hope, where he arrived in June 1823 where he joined the expedition of HMS Leven and HMS Barracouta under William Fitzwilliam Owen, to Delagoa Bay. He went in a temporary capacity as assistant surgeon, serving also as botanist and naturalist on the south-east coast of Africa, Madagascar, and Indian Ocean islands. Later he sailed to New South Wales, and returned to India around the end of 1828, living there for a year, before returning to England in 1830. Martin became a writer and published on India and the colonies. In 1840 he founded and for two years edited the Colonial Magazine. In 1837 he presented a petition to the House of Commons for an amended colonial administrative department. In January 1844, Martin was appointed treasurer of the newly acquired island of Hong Kong, where he was also a member of the legislative council. That same year, he published "Ireland before and after the Union. In May 1845 he disagreed with the governor on the question of raising revenue from opium and on being refused six months' leave, resigned in July 1845. After making unsuccessful efforts to induce the Secretary of State to reinstate him, Martin returned to a literary life, near London. In 1851 he went to Jamaica on a mission to report on the affairs of two mining companies operating there. Martin was one of the original members of the East India Association, founded in 1866. He died at Wellesley Lodge, Sutton, Surrey, on 6 September 1868. (from The British Museum). Seller Inventory # 86515

Bibliographic Details

Title: IRELAND BEFORE AND AFTER THE UNION WITH ...
Publisher: Wm. S. Orr and Co, London, England
Publication Date: 1843
Binding: Leather-bound
Condition: Good Plus
Edition: First Edition.