William Martin
(1772-1851), Inventor and eccentricRegency Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 1 portrait
Martin was the son of a tannery foreman. He worked as a rope maker but took an interest in the mechanics of perpetual motion machines. A noted eccentric inventor, Martin invented his own perpetual motion machine that he exhibited in London in 1808. He founded the Martinean Society, which was based on his opposition to London's Royal Society. He was particularly adverse to the Newtonian theory of gravitation and Martin even styled himself 'anti-Newtonian'. Martin began giving lectures, first in the Newcastle district and from 1830 throughout England. He became a familiar figure in and around Newcastle, but from 1849 he lived with his brother, the artist John Martin, in London.
by George Patten
watercolour and gouache on ivory, circa 1821
NPG 1576
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