Joseph Martin (1852-1923)

Lawyer, MLA (1883-1886), MLA (1886-1888), MLA (1888-1892), MP (1891-1896).

Born on 24 September 1852, in Milton, Ontario,“Fightin’ Joe” Martin was educated at the Toronto Normal School and the University of Toronto. He was called to the Manitoba bar in 1882, practicing law at Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg. A Liberal, he was elected MLA from Portage 1883-1892, serving as Attorney General in the Greenway administration (1889-1891) where he introduced the notorious separate schools legislation.

Martin became MP for Winnipeg (1893-1896) then he moved to Vancouver, where he soon entered the provincial legislature and briefly became premier in 1900. He later became a British MP from East St. Pancras (1910-1918). He thus sat in four different legislative bodies during his political career.

On 2 September 1881, he married to Mrs. G. W. Eaton.

More information:

Ethnic Politics on the Urban Frontier: “Fighting Joe” Martin and the Jews of Winnipeg, 1893-96 by Henry Trachtenberg
Manitoba History, Number 35, Spring/Summer 1998

Sources:

J. A. Gemmill (editor), The Canadian Parliamentary Companion, 1887. Canadiana.org.

Profile revised: 6 July 2008

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