Peter Martin (Australian footballer)
{{short description|Australian rules footballer}}
{{for|the English footballer|Peter Martin (English footballer)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Peter Martin
| image = Peter Martin 1901-1902.jpg
| caption = Martin during his Collingwood career
| fullname = Peter James Martin
| birth_date = 24 July 1875
| birth_place = Geelong, Victoria, Australia
| death_date = {{death date and age|1918|3|25|1875|7|24|df=yes}}
| death_place = Caulfield, Victoria, Australia
| originalteam = Wellington
| height = 168 cm
| weight = 66 kg
| position =
| statsend = 1902
| years1 = 1901–1902
| club1 = Collingwood
| games_goals1 = 15 (2)
| careerhighlights =
}}
Peter James Martin (24 July 1875 – 25 March 1918) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood during the early years of the Victorian Football League (VFL), and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFA).
Family
The son of James Joseph Martin and Ellen O'Connor, Peter was born in Geelong on 24 July 1875. He married Lavinia M. Smith in 1902. They had four children, Lavinia H., Kathleen I., and Samuel A. Martin, and one other.
Footballer
Recruited from Wellington Juniors in Geelong, he first came to Collingwood's attention when he won a goal-kicking contest in 1898.[https://forever.collingwoodfc.com.au/players/peter-martin/ Roberts, M., "Peter Martin (1901–1902): Biography", Forever Collingwood.]
Martin shared his league debut with future club great Ted Rowell and played 14 games that season, including the 1901 VFL Grand Final loss to Essendon where he was a wingman. He made just one further appearance with Collingwood, in 1902, before finishing his career at North Melbourne, then in the Victorian Football Association (VFA),He was cleared to North Melbourne in 1903: [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197225810 Football, The Age, (Friday, 1 May 1903), p.8.] where he played for, at least, three seasons (1903–1905).[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108826555 North Melbourne Club: Annual Meeting, The North Melbourne Courier and West Melbourne Advertiser, (Friday, 6 April 1906), p.3.] He then played for four seasons for the Garrison Artillery Football Team.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222985233 Football in Town and Country: Some Premier Teams: Australian Garrison Artillery Team: Winners of the Army Challenge Cup, The Weekly Times, (Saturday, 10 October 1908), p.25.]
Soldier
A Private with the 6th Battalion of the First AIF during World War I, Martin was badly injured in fighting at Pozières, France in December 1916.
The name of Peter James Martin (3399) does not appear on the Australian War Memorial's Roll of Honour because, at the time of his death (25 March 1918), more than 12 months and a day had elapsed since he had been wounded in action;Main and Allen (2002), p.113. also, by the time of his death, he had been discharged from the army, and was not listed as officially "Died of Wounds" on any casualty list.
He had been hit in the head by a German bullet at Pozières on 8 December 1916; the right side of his head was very badly damaged (his skull had been fractured, and it never healed properly), and he had lost his right eye.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/154544918 Peter Martin, The Winner, (Wednesday, 25 April 1917), p.8.] He did not appear on a casualty list until January 1917.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1590293 Australian Casualties: 262nd List: Wounded and Seriously Ill: Victoria: Martin, P.J., The Argus, (Friday, 12 January 1917), p.8.] He was discharged from the army on 26 January 1917. He died from his war wounds at the Caulfield Military Hospital (No.5 Australian General Hospital) on 25 March 1918.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155104570 Deaths: Martin, The Age, (Wednesday, 27 March 1918), p.1.] He was buried with full military honours, in an unmarked grave, at Coburg Cemetery.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155104566 Funeral Notices: Martin, The Age, (Wednesday, 27 March 1918), p16.]
See also
Footnotes
{{Reflist}}
References
- Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
- Main, J. & Allen, D., "Martin, Peter", pp. 112–113 in Main, J. & Allen, D., Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War, Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002.
External links
{{Commons category|Peter Martin (footballer)}}
- {{AFL Tables | P/Peter_Martin }}
- {{AustralianFootball|ref=Peter%2BMartin/1513}}
- [http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awm8/23/25/awm8-23-25-4-0239.pdf Australian World War I Nominal Roll: Peter James Martin (3399)]
- [http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3000664 Australian War Memorial World War I Service Record: Peter James Martin (3399)]
- [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1590293 Australian Casualties: 262nd List: Wounded and Seriously Ill: Victoria (Martin, P. J., Moonee Ponds), The Argus, (Friday, 12 January 1917), p.8.]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Peter}}
Category:Collingwood Football Club players
Category:North Melbourne Football Club (VFA) players
Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War I