Martin, Sir Theodore

(1816-1909)

   Born in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh University (1830-1833) he practiced law in Edinburgh and from 1846 in London, where he became head of the highly successful firm of Martin and Leslie, parliamentary agents. Edinburgh University awarded him and honorary doctor of laws in 1875. Queen Victoria made him Commander of the Bath (1878), Knight Commander of the Bath (1880), and Knight Commander Royal Victorian Order (1896). He died at Bryntysilio, near Llangollen, North Wales and was buried in Brompton cemetery, West London. He collaborated with W.E. Aytoun (see entry) in the writing of the humorous Bon Gaultier Ballads (1852). Martin translated many works from German, Latin, Danish and Italian and wrote a life of Prince Albert (5 volumes, 1875-1880) and Queen Victoria as I knew her (1902). Some of his other publications: Madonna Pia, 1894. Poems, 1863. Introductory Poem to Queen Victoria, 1908. Some of his poems: "Faust [Selections]," "I met a cracksman coming down the Strand," "The Dying Girl's Song," "The Monk's Dream," "The Thieves' Anthology," "To Miss Helen Faucit, As Rosalind," "Toll no sullen bell for me."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www. lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Faber Book of Parodies. Simon Brett, ed. Faber and Faber, 1984. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Poems of Goethe. Edgar Alfred Bowring, ed. George Bell and Sons, 1874. Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (http://library.stanford.edu). Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia).