How an extraordinary seaman was remembered and honoured in the Bay

Evelyn George Martin's parents were part of the Martin's Bank prior to it being taken over by Barclays Bank. As such, they were generally abroad during Evelyn George's Martin (referred to as George) young years and there he was fostered by the Hogg family residing at the Berry Head House Brixham during his youth.
Having attended New College Oxford, he eventually left the university on grounds of ill-health, although he did achieve a Cricket Blue and a Degree. Fellow students saw him as a "kindly giant being a well-known and popular university fugure".
While residing at Berry Head, George purchased a boathouse at Battery Beach and from there learned from local trawlermen all about the sea and their "sailing smacks". The old hands helped him enjoy and respect the sea while even teaching him shipwright skills.
Later, he was to become a highly killed yachtsman and won the Royal Cruising Clubs Challenge Trophy in 1907 and in 1908 before then sailing from Devon to Gibralter and then the Baltic. It was to be during the Great War that George moved to Falmouth to serve on rescue tugs before then assisting with the reorganisation of tugs stationed in and around Lands End.
For his commitment, he was awarded an OBE and would then later purchase the legendary cutter ‘Julie Brize’, which he personally fitted out at Teignmouth. Between the first and second World Wars, Commander Martin also founded the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) before donating its Challenge Cup after winning the first Fastnet Race in the cutter ‘Julie Brise’, which he would skipper across the Atlantic to America.
The story of the Martin family was brought to my attention in February 2012 when Clare Combe (nee Hogg) explained the family ancestry, including her great Uncle E G Martin. She wanted a Blue Plaque to his honour to be established on the wall of the now Berry Head Hotel alongside the plaque to the Rev. F Lyte. The hotel standing on the shoreside high on the rocks was where George would have climbed while living with the Hogg family.
With my Society Committee in support and with full sponsorship achieved, we then learned the Town Council would not object to having a second commemorative plaque at the Hotel. Having contacted Brixham historian Bob Curtis, we finally met Mrs Sylvia Spice (George's 97 year old niece) before deciding the date of the plaque unveiling - May 23, 2013. It was quite apparent the event would attract high numbers of attendees as the dignitary list alone ran to more than 40 people.
We certainly needed a fine day for the event but as it turned out the weather was against us. Heavy rain and high wind made it extremely cold outside and so I tried to limit the formal unveiling process before moving everyone into a large hotel lounge for the formal speeches.
With over a hundred and fifty people in attendance, all were then served with hot refreshments before the historical presentations were made. Finally, Commodore of the Royal Western Yachting Club presented a special print of "Jolie Brise" to the Chairman of Torbay Council. With 50 family members present and the skipper and crew of the Julie Brise, plus numerous Naval personnel and yachting people, all were given out official pamphlet as the morning event for both the family and Society members unfolded.
During the presentations, we learned that during World War Two, Commander Martin had been brought out of retirement by the Admiralty to help establish a Rescue Tug Training Base at the Kintyre Peninsular, where eventually thousands of ordinary tugmen (including Brixham men) were trained to make ready for the D-Day landings. The task was to be a safeguard patrolling role and once the war ended, Commander Martin finally retired to Hadleigh in Suffolk where this extra-ordinary seaman died in 1945.
IAN'S COMMENT - The plaque came at an appropriate time for Brixham as the Town Clerk (Mrs Ki Barnes) was proposing a Brixham Heritage Trail for thwe town and this long forgotten name would now be re-remembered.
NEXT WEEK - My take on the amazing Agatha Christie in two instalments.
The Series of Significant People who lived in Torbay during the 20th century - not always famous - as researched by Ian L Handford (President - Torbay Civic Society)