Josiah Martin

Josiah Martin (23 April 1737 – 13 April 1786) was a British Army officer and colonial official who served as the ninth and last British governor of North Carolina from 1771 to 1776. Early life and career Martin was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Samuel Martin, a planter well established on the Caribbean island of Antigua, third son of his father's second marriage. His elder half-brother Samuel Martin (1714–1788) was secretary to the Treasury in London. Another brother Sir Henry Martin (1735–1794) was for many years naval commissioner at Portsmouth and Comptroller of the Royal Navy. Sir Henry was father of Thomas Byam Martin. This Josiah Martin's uncle, also Josiah Martin (1699–1778) but born in Antigua, left Antigua after 1750 and settled at Far Rockaway, Long Island. He was a member of the first board of trustees for King's College (now Columbia University) in 1754 and a member of the royal council of New York in 1754–1755. From 1759 to 1764, he was on the council of the governor of the Province of New York. Josiah Martin, the younger, married his first cousin Elizabeth Martin, daughter of the elder Josiah Martin of Long Island, in 1761. At first undecided, he became an ensign in the British Army in 1756, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1769. On 29 December 1758, Josiah was appointed to the New York Council, a position once held by his uncle. Because of his trips to London and Antigua, the council, in November 1762, temporarily replaced him with Lawrence Read, superseded in turn by Lawrence's father Joseph Read, to sit in Martin's place until he returned. He was given "a full year to determine whether he will return to the council from the West Indies."