Martyn, Thomas (1758-1825)

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VENN
Adm. pens. (age 17) at EMMANUEL, June 24, 1752. Eldest s. of John (1730), of Chelsea, Middlesex [and Eulalia, dau. of John King, D.D., Preb. of York]. B. Sept. 23, 1735, in Church Lane, Chelsea. School, Chelsea (Mr Rothery). ' Matric. Michs. 1752; Scholar, 1753; exhibitioner, 1755; B.A. 1756. Migrated to Sidney, Feb. 4, 1758; M.A. 1759; B.D. 1766. Fellow of Sidney, 1758-73; tutor, 1760-73. Junior Proctor, 1764-5. Ord. deacon (Lincoln) 1758; priest, Dec. 23, 1759. Succeeded his father as Professor of Botany, 1762-1825; only lectured until 1796, ‘as the subject was not popular.’ One of the earliest English exponents of the Linnaean system. Undertook gratuitously the Curatorship of the botanic gardens at Cambridge, 1771. F.R.S., 1786; F.L.S., 1785. R. of Ludgershall, Bucks., 1774-85. V. of Foxton, Cambs., 1773-6. V. of Little Marlow, Bucks., 1776-1804. Travelled abroad with his pupil and ward, Edward Hartopp (1774), of Little Dalby Hall, Leics., 1778-80. Went to London in 1784 and purchased the Charlotte Street Chapel, Pimlico. R. of Edgware, Middlesex, 1785. R. (and patron) of Pertenhall, Beds., 1804-25. Married Martha, dau. of William Elliston, of Suffolk, and sister of Dr William Elliston (1750), Master of Sidney. Author, Plantae Cantabrigienses, etc. Died June 3, 1825, at Pertenhall; buried there. M.I. Father of John K. (1791); half-brother of Claudius (1768). (Lipscomb, I. 319; G. C. Gorham, Memoirs of Thomas Martyn; D.N.B.; G. Mag., 1825, II. 85.)

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