Alfred George Marten was the third son of Robert Giles Marten and Eliza Warmington and was born on 8 Nov 1829. The early death of his father in 1839 did not appear to hinder the careers of him or his siblings.
His education was based in non-conformist roots at Mill Hill School but led him through an academic career to the heights of the legal profession and the establishment. Having read law at St John’s College, Cambridge, he trained as and became a successful barrister. However, he kept his academic base in Cambridge, becoming a fellow of St John’s in 1870 and MP for Cambridge in 1874.
Sir Alfred George Marten (Your affectionate uncle)
He married Patricia Barrington Kennett at the age of 40 and had two eminent sons who would go on to match his distinguished career.
His eldest son Alfred Amberson Barrington Marten went on to become Chief Justice of Bombay. His second son Clarence Henry Kennett Marten pursued an academic career as a historian, becoming Provost of Eton and was appointed tutor to the young Princess Elizabeth in 1938.
Alfred George Marten was knighted in about 1896 – both his sons were also to receive knighthoods.
Sir Alfred died on 22 June 1910.
Whilst Alfred was based in London and Cambridge, his elder brother Henry John Marten, the engineer, pursued his early career around Wolverhampton. Only after 1880 did Henry have substantial London interests with his work for the Severn Commissioners and an office in Westminster in Storey’s Gate. We have a number of artefacts from ‘Uncle Alfred’ and his family – not least the signed photo above.
He also produced and had published a full Marten family tree which his niece Florence Marten kept. It is now widely available on the Web. His full archive was donated to the Cambridge University Library by his daughter Isabel Marten at her death in 1966