# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Martin, William (1801-1867)

​MARTIN, WILLIAM (1801–1867), writer and editor of books for young folks, born at Woodbridge, Suffolk, in 1801, was an illegitimate son of Jane Martin, laundress to the officers of the garrison stationed at Woodbridge during the French war. His putative father was Sir Benjamin Blomfield. After attending a dame's school at Woodbridge, he became in 1815 assistant to Thomas Howe, woollendraper at Battersea. Howe's wife was an intimate friend of the quakeress, Mrs. Fry, and under the guidance of these ladies Martin improved his education sufficiently to obtain a mastership in a school at Uxbridge. There he remained till 1836, when he returned to Woodbridge and gained his livelihood by delivering lectures and writing articles for the magazines. One of Martin's earliest literary ventures was ‘Peter Parley's Annual,’ which was first issued in 1840. The series, which was continued till Martin's death, was designed in imitation of one successfully begun under the same title in America in 1838 by Samuel Goodrich, with the assistance of Nathaniel Hawthorne and other writers. Besides the ‘Annual,’ Martin wrote a number of simple instructive books under the same pseudonym, a series of ‘Household Tracts for the People’ under that of ‘Chatty Cheerful,’ and not a few under his own name. It is difficult, in the absence of direct evidence, to ascertain his full share in the ‘Peter Parley’ literature of the period, for there were at least six other writers who adopted the pseudonym (cf. George Mogridge, Sergeant Bell and his Paree Show by Peter Parley, 1842); Messrs. Darton, Martin's publishers, in especial, ‘used to prefix the name to all sorts of children's books without reference to their actual authorship’ (Bookseller, October 1889). Martin died at his residence, Holly Lodge, Woodbridge, on 22 Oct. 1867, and was buried in the cemetery there. He married thrice; his third wife and two sons survived him. Despite the instructive lessons of his ‘Household Tracts,’ the dissipated habits and loose morals of his later years seem to have caused his friends some anxiety.
The following is a chronological list of the ​works with which he is credited: 1. ‘Every Boy's Arithmetic,’ by J. T. Crossley and W. M. [1833], 12mo. 2. ‘The Educational Magazine’ [ed. by W. M., new series], 1835, &c. 3. ‘The Parlour Book, or Familiar Conversations on Science and the Arts’ [1835?], 16mo. 4. ‘The Book of Sports, Athletic Exercises, and Amusements’ [1837?], 16mo. 5. ‘The Moral and Intellectual School Book’ [1838], 12mo. 6. ‘Peter Parley's Annual,’ 1840–67. 7. ‘The British Annals of Education’ [ed. by W. M.], 1844, &c. 8. ‘Stories from Sea and Land,’ 1845 (?), 16mo. 9. ‘P. P.'s Peep at Paris. Descriptive of all that is worth Seeing and Telling,’ 1848, 16mo. 10. ‘The Early Educator,’ 1849, 12mo. 11. ‘The Book of Sports … for Boys and Girls’ [1850], 12mo. 12. ‘The Intellectual Expositor and Vocabulary,’ 1851, 12mo. 13. ‘The Intellectual Spelling Book of Pronunciation, &c.,’ 1851, 12mo. 14. ‘Martin's Intellectual Reading Book,’ 1851, 12mo. 15. ‘The Intellectual Grammar,’ 1852, 12mo. 16. ‘Martin's Intellectual Primer,’ 2nd edit. 1853, 12mo. 17. ‘The Early Educator, or the Young Inquirer Answered,’ 1856, 18mo. 18. ‘Instructive Lessons in Reading and Thinking,’ new ed. 1856, 8vo. 19. ‘Our Oriental Kingdom, or Tales about India,’ 1857, 8vo. 20. ‘The Hatchups of me and my Schoolfellows, by P. P., edited by W. M.,’ 1858, 12mo. 21. ‘The Birthday Gift for Boys and Girls,’ 1860, 8vo. 22. ‘Holiday Tales for Schoolboys’ (vol. i. of ‘Boy's Own Library’), 1860, 8vo. 23. ‘Chimney-corner Stories,’ 1861, 8vo. 24. ‘Our Boyish Days, and how we spent them,’ 1861, 8vo. 25. ‘The Boy's Own Annual,’ by Old Chatty Cheerful, 1861, 8vo. 26. ‘Going a-courting: Sweet-hearting, Love, and such-like,’ by Old C. C., 1861, 16mo. 27. ‘Household Management, or How to make Home comfortable,’ by Old C. C., 1861, 16mo. 28. ‘How to Rise in the World to Respectability, Independence, and Usefulness,’ by Old C. C., 1861, 16mo. 29. ‘Men who have fallen from Wealth, Fame, and Respectability, to Poverty, Shame, and Degradation, from a Want of Principle,’ by Old C. C. [1861] (one of ‘Household Tracts for the People’). 30. ‘The Adventures of a Sailor-boy,’ 1862, 8vo. 31. ‘Scandal, Gossip, Tittle-tattle, and Backbiting,’ by Old C. C. [1862], 16mo. 32. ‘First English Course,’ 1863, 12mo. 33. ‘Company: What to seek, what to avoid,’ by Old C. C. [1863], 16mo. 34. ‘Marriage Bells, or How we commenced Housekeeping’ [1863], 16mo. 35. ‘What shall I do with my Money?’ by Old C. C., 1863, 16mo. 36. ‘P. P.'s own Favourite Story-Book for Young People, edited by W. M.,’ 1864, 8vo (another edition of ‘P. P.'s Annual’ for 1864). 37. ‘The Holiday Keepsake or Birthday Gift, by P. P. and other Popular Authors,’ 1865, 8vo. 38. ‘Heroism of Boyhood,’ 1865, 8vo. 39. ‘P. P.'s Forget-me-not, by P. P.’ [Mary Howitt, &c.], 1866, 8vo. 40. ‘Household Happiness, and how to secure it,’ by Old C. C., 1866, 16mo. 41. ‘Noble Boys, their Deeds of Love and Duty,’ 1870, 8vo. 42. ‘The Holiday Book for the Young,’ 7th edit. 1870, 8vo. 43. ‘The Young Student's Holiday Book,’ 7th edit. 1871, 8vo. 44. ‘The Boy's Holiday Book,’ 7th edit. 1871, 8vo. 45. ‘Jack Roden, the Sailor-boy’ [a tale], publ. 1889, 8vo.
[Information kindly supplied by V. B. Redstone, esq., and John Loder, esq., of Woodbridge; Bookseller, 1889, pp. 989, 1204; Allibone, i. 700; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Advocates' Libr. Cat.]
G. G. S.