James Martin (engineer)
{{Short description|Northern Irish aerospace engineer and co-founder of Martin-Baker}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Sir James Martin
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|CBE|PhD|FIMechE|FRAeS|CEng}}
| image = Sir James Martin.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Martin in 1974
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1893|09|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = Crossgar, County Down, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|01|05|1893|09|11|df=y}}
| death_place = Southlands Manor, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
| death_cause =
| resting_place = St. Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Denham, Buckinghamshire, England
| nationality = British
| citizenship =
| other_names =
| known_for = Inventor of the ejector seat and founder of the Martin-Baker aircraft company
| education =
| employer =
| occupation = Engineer
| title =
| spouse = Muriel Haines
| partner =
| children = 4
| parents = Thomas Martin & Sarah Coulter
| relatives =
| signature =
| footnotes =
}}
Sir James Martin (11 September 1893 – 5 January 1981) was a British engineer who together with Captain Valentine Baker founded the Martin-Baker aircraft company which is now a leading producer of aircraft ejection seats.
Life
James Martin was born 11 September 1893 in the townland of Killinchy-in-the-Woods, known locally as Killinchy Woods (birthplace on what is now called Glasswater Road), Crossgar, County Down in Northern Ireland. He established his own engineering firm in 1929.{{Cite web | url=http://www.devlin-family.com/martin.htm | title=Sir James Martin – Photograph and short history | access-date=29 July 2009 | archive-date=26 September 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926125638/http://www.devlin-family.com/martin.htm | url-status=live }}
In 1934, he and Valentine Baker formed Martin-Baker; Captain Baker took the test pilot role. It was in a crash of their third design, the MB 3, that Baker was killed.
In 1964 Martin was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club.{{cite web |title=The Medals & Awards of the Royal Aero Club |url=http://royalaeroclub.co.uk/medals-and-awards.php?title=&id=54 |website=The Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom |accessdate=10 October 2020 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801001213/http://royalaeroclub.co.uk/medals-and-awards.php?title=&id=54 |url-status=live }}{{Failed verification|date=October 2020}}
In 2004, Martin was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57864-397-4}}.
Northern Bank
File:Sir James Martin plaque Crossgar.jpg
Martin's contribution to engineering was commemorated by the Northern Bank in its Inventor series of banknotes, which featured his portrait on the bank's £100 note. The note was discontinued in 2013 when the bank reissued its banknotes under the new Danske Bank brand.{{cite web|title=Current Banknotes: Danske Bank|url=http://www.acbi.org.uk/danske_bank.php|work=The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers|accessdate=30 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028052038/http://www.acbi.org.uk/danske_bank.php|archive-date=28 October 2017|url-status=dead}}
Notes and references
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120618182525/http://www.martin-baker.com/Sub-Navigation/History/Sir-James-Martin.aspx Sir James Martin] at martin-baker.com
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Category:20th-century British inventors
Category:British aerospace engineers
Category:Irish military engineers
Category:English people of Irish descent
Category:British people of Irish descent
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Engineers from County Down
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