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Ernest Sidney MARTIN

Although listed on the Honour Board as "Edwin Martin" it is believed that this is a typographical error.  The name on the Honour Board should read as "Ernest Sidney Martin".   Ernest Martin had many family connections at Saint Andrew's Presbyterian Church including his brothers-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel Dr J. Espie Dods, Captain Leonard Reid Walker and Corporal Philip Cunningham Walker all of whom are listed on the Honour Boards as well as his mother-in-law Margaret Adeline Walker (nee Reid) whose family also attended the church. 

Lieutenant Ernest Sidney MARTIN (1886-1934) 

At the age of 20, Ernest Sidney Martin set out on his own to pursue his dream to be a Dental Surgeon.   He travelled to America, where the latest advancements in dental technology were being taught, and gained his degree from the University of Pennsylvania.    After completing his studies, he later practiced in London before moving to Germany, where he established a dental practice.  

However, the outbreak of WW1 would dramatically change the course of his life.   He was taken prisoner in Germany shortly before the war began.   After being held captive for five months, he managed to escape and return to his family in Brisbane. 

Following his return to Australia, Lieutenant Ernest Sidney Martin then enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as a dentist.  He was posted overseas with the 14th Australian General Hospital at Abbassia near Cairo, Egypt.  Unfortunately, his service was cut short when his health deteriorated and he had to return home.  
 

Martin Family Heritage

Ernest’s father, Sidney George Martin, was the son of Rev. James and Hannah Martin  from Nottinghamshire, England.   Rev. James Martin, Ernest’s paternal grandfather, was a well-respected Baptist Minister who served congregations in London, Cheshire, and at Charlotte Baptist Chapel in Edinburgh , before ultimately ministering at the Derby Road Baptist Church in Nottingham.  He later accepted a call to lead the congregation at the Collins Street Melbourne Baptist Church in Australia.  

The Martin family, (Ernest’s grandparents) undertook the long journey to Australia, arriving in Melbourne in late 1869 .   While in Melbourne, Reverend James Martin became known for his powerful preaching.  He was also a linguist, authoring and publishing theological works, and was actively involved with the YMCA.  In addition, he served as a tutor at the Congregational College.   Hannah Martin, his wife, who had previously been engaged with the Bible Missionary Society (BMS) in Britain, also founded a Home Missionary Society in Melbourne in 1871 . 

Ernest’s Parents

Sidney George Martin (1860-1919) and Jessie Eveline (nee Morton)  (1866 -1936) were married on 19 May 1885 in Queensland .  

Ernest’s mother, Jessie, was born in Queensland and was the daughter of Scottish immigrants Robert Murdoch Morton and Margaret Elizabeth (nee Gerler).  They were married in Fife, Scotland in 1824.   (Robert Morton arrived in Australia in 1832 as an Assisted Immigrant and his occupation was listed was a Tailor .)   

Both Sidney Martin and Jessie Martin (Ernest’s parents) were heavily involved in the Brisbane community throughout their lives.   Sidney was Treasurer of the Brisbane YMCA for 20 years and took a large share in the formation of the Blind, Deaf and Dumb Association as well as acting as Treasurer over several years. 

Jessie Martin was a member of Saint Andrew’s Ann Street Presbyterian Church, President of the Brisbane Women’s Club for 3 years, a member of the National Council of Women, the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) and the Lyceum Club of Brisbane.

Ernest’s Family life

Ernest Sidney Martin was the eldest child for Sidney and Jessie Martin and was born on 22 June 1886  in Hawthorn, Melbourne, Victoria.  The Martin family lived in Melbourne until Ernest’s father accepted a position as an Accountant at the Queensland Head Office of the National Mutual Life Assurance Company in Brisbane in 1881.   

A change in his father’s employment in 1888, meant the family relocated to Wellington, New Zealand where Ernest’s sisters, Evelyn Mary Martin  and Florence Lilian Martin , were born in 1889 and 1891 respectively.

In the late 1890s the family returned to Queensland when his father, Sidney, was appointed Manager of National Mutual Life Assurance Society Ltd, in Queen Street, Brisbane.   

Education

Before the family moved from Melbourne, Ernest attended Scotch College and after arriving in Brisbane he was enrolled at the Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) from February 1900 to June 1903.  During his time at BGS, he was a member of the School Cadets.  Ernest passed the Sydney Junior Examination in 1903 and during that year he played cricket for the school in the 1st XI. 

Trained as a Dentist 

On leaving school, Ernest began a three-year apprenticeship in Brisbane with dentist, Dr Christopher William Hurworth. (Dr Hurworth was the first registrar of the Dental Board of Queensland.  After training at the Melbourne Dental College, he attended Harvard Dental School in USA between 1903-1904  and gained his degree in Dental Surgery.  Dr Hurworth returned to Australia where he had surgeries in Brisbane, Toowoomba and Stanthorpe.)    

After completing his apprenticeship with Dr Hurworth and aged just 20 years, Ernest travelled to England on the ‘SS Persic’ departing Sydney and arriving in London on 4 July 1906, after a six-week voyage.  Seven days later, on 11 July 1906, he embarked on the ‘SS Teutonic’ which departed from Liverpool, England, arriving in New York  on 19 July.  Interestingly, on his arrival in New York, the US Immigration Manifest recorded his age as 22.  It also recorded that he had been living in London and had more than $50 in his possession at the time of disembarking.   Ernest gave his destination on the manifest as ‘Boston’ (Massachusetts). 

Throughout his life, there are references by Ernest and others about his genuine desire to be up to date with the very latest in dental procedures and techniques.  This yearning, from a young age, would have spurred him on at 20 to travel to America alone to gain this knowledge. 

University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine

Ernest Sidney Martin is next recorded in the First Year Class of the Dental Student List in the Catalogue of the University of Pennsylvania 1907/08 .   The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, also known as Penn Dental Medicine, is among the oldest university-affiliated dental schools in the United States, with its origins dating back to 1852.   Notably, the first Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degrees were awarded in 1879.

While at the University, Ernest lived at the student accommodation called the ‘Quadrangle Dormitories’ which were situated at 3700 Spruce Street, University of Pennsylvania.  His residential address while at the university was 3706 Spruce Street.  

Ernest is recorded in the Student Lists of the University Catalogues for three years ie 1908-1909, 1909-1910 and 1910-1911, and he is awarded his Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree on 22 February 1910.   A rare portrait photograph of the Class 1910 University of Pennsylvania Dental teaching staff and graduates shows Ernest arrowed and is shown in the photo gallery .

Return to Australia

Ernest returned to Liverpool on 26th June 1910 aboard the ship ‘RMS Celtic’ from New York, USA and then made his way home to Brisbane.    On his return he established a surgery on Wickham Terrace.  He was registered with a Licentiate of Dentistry Queensland (LDQ) on 17 October 1910 .

During this period, Ernest was also a member of the Australian Army Medical Corps Dental Reserve with the rank of 1st Lieutenant.

In 1912 Electoral Rolls, Ernest was listed as living in Adelaide Street, Clayfield, Brisbane .    The ‘Brisbane Courier’ newspaper on the 23rd July 1912 shows an advertisement of the new location of his dental practice at Rothwell’s Chambers, Edward Street, Brisbane. 

Marriage & family

On the 7 September 1912, at Scots Presbyterian Church Clayfield, Ernest married Nina Margaret Walker.  The wedding was described in the ‘Brisbane Courier’ of 18 September:

"Dr Ernest S. Martin (son of Mr & Mrs Sidney Martin, Toowong) was married to Miss Nina Margaret Walker (daughter of Mrs M. A. Walker, Clayfield and the late Mr W. J. Walker, Melbourne). The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Scott Macdonald. …The bride, who was given away by her brother-in-law (Dr Espie Dods), wore a beautiful gown of Oriental ivory satin, with pannier overdress of silk crepe, finished with a square train; …Misses Florence Martin and Peggy Dods acted as bridesmaids.” 

The following year, Ernest and Nina, left for England on the ‘Ascanius’, a Blue Funnel Line ship, arriving in Liverpool, England on 23 January 1913 .  Hoping to acquire further experience, Ernest became an assistant to a Harley Street specialist in London.   

While living and working in England, their first child, Brian Reid Martin, was born in Fulham, Greater London, on 2 June 1913.

Move to Cologne

Ernest’s quest for further experience and knowledge led him and the family to move again, this time to Cologne, Germany where he established a practice.  Unfortunately, and unbeknown to him, this was just prior to the outbreak of the hostilities of WW1.

Taken Prisoner by the Germans

An excerpt from the Facebook page of Australian Remembrance Army   tells the story:

‘At the outbreak of war in 1914, whilst practising as a dentist in Cologne, Ernest was captured and imprisoned in a concentration camp at Sennelager. He was confined with two other Australians and approximately 40,000 other war prisoners who were mostly Frenchmen, Belgians or Russian Poles. Nina and son Brian were compelled to leave Cologne, returning to Australia. After five months of captivity, with the aid of a few friends in Cologne, Ernest was able to evade the guard on duty, and escape from the camp. He made his way by train and afoot to the Dutch border and eventually reached Holland. He then travelled to England and embarked for Australia on the ‘Mooltan’ on 10 January 1915. During his time at the camp at Sennelager, Ernest was shockingly treated, losing nearly 20kg from lack of food. 

Ernest was reunited in Australia with his wife Nina and son Brian, and on 29 November 1915, they announced the birth of their second son, Merrill Reid Martin.’

In 1915, an advertisement stating that Ernest was commencing a Dental Practice Partnership in Queen Street, Brisbane appeared in the Brisbane Courier, Saturday 13 February 1915 on page 4 stating:

PARTNERSHIP NOTICE.   Dr Walter F. Coe and Dr Ernest S. Martin (late of Harley Street, London and Cologne, Germany) Dental Surgeons, Colonial Mutual Buildings, Queen Street.

After his return to Australia, Dr E. S. Martin is recorded telling his story as a German POW in some detail at a Meeting of the Odonatological Society in 1916 held in the rooms of the Dental Hospital in Elizabeth Street, Brisbane.  Ernest’s story was recorded in short in the Minutes  viz:

“He was practicing in Cologne at the outbreak of hostilities and was heartlessly taken from his wife and child and placed in a prisoners’ camp where he endured great hardships.  Later he was arrested and accused of spying.  He served eleven days in solitary confinement, the last eight of which he was in a state of delirium.  Eventually he made good his escape and reached the sunny shores of Queensland again.”

Enlistment and overseas service

Ernest and Nina Martin were living at Hockings Street, Eagle Junction when Ernest enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) on 8th August 1916 as an Honorary Lieutenant as part of the 71st Dental Unit attached to the No. 14 Australian General Hospital, AIF.   His Attestation Papers gave his birth in Melbourne, Victoria and at the time of enlistment he was 30 years and 2 months with his Religious Denomination as Presbyterian.   

On 19 August 1916, Ernest embarked in Melbourne on the ‘Karoola’ arriving at Suez on 22 September.   On 6 April 1917, Ernest was promoted to full Lieutenant (LR3101) while he was at Abbassia (now El-Abaseya, Cairo). 

Unfortunately, not long after his promotion Ernest fell ill and, on the 23 May, 1917  he was admitted to hospital.   After four days at the 14th AGH, he was transferred via passenger train from Abbassia to the No. 10 B.R.C. Convalescent Hospital in Alexandria, some 226km.  He was then admitted to the No. 14 Australian General Hospital, Ibrahimieh (now Al Ibrahimiyyah, Alexandria, on the Mediterranean Sea) and returned to duty at the hospital on 8 June 1917.   Four days later he was again unwell and readmitted to no 14 AGH at Abbassia on the outskirts of Cairo.  In total Ernest had spent 28 days in hospital with nervous exhaustion.

An undated copy of a medical report  by Major L. S. Latham relating to Lieut. E. S. Martin gave his disease as “nervous exhaustion”.   It said he was suffering from dyspepsia, defective vision through ciliary derangement and general nervous exhaustion.   This was said to be caused originally by privations suffered as a prisoner in German concentration camp in 1914.   His systems have been aggravated by eye strain in his work as a A.G.H.  Dentist.   He lost weight (9st 13lb normally 10st 9lb) and has been unable since 23 May 1917 to carry on his work, feeling tired and restless, lacking power of concentration, sleeping badly and having marked impairment of vision.  It was recommended by Major Latham that he rest for several months to allow for full convalescence.

Ernest’s medical condition came before the Medical Board  at the 14th Australian General Hospital on 20 June 1917 where it was decided to return him to Australia for six months.

On 11 July 1917, Ernest embarked on the A15 ‘Port Sydney’ at Cairo and returned to Melbourne, Australia for six months “change”.  After six months he was still suffering nervous exhaustion and was struck off strength on 27 July 1917.   On 4 September 1917, the Medical Board again met regarding the present state of health of Lieutenant E. S. Martin with Lieut. Colonel J. Espie Dods presiding.  (Dr Espie Dods was also Ernest’s brother-in-law by marriage.)

Lieut. E. S. Martin’s appointment was formally terminated on 19 September 1917. 

Lieutenant Ernest Sidney Martin was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal (20670) and the Victory Medal (20134) for his overseas service.

Post War

By 1918, Ernest Sidney Martin and Nina Margaret Martin had had three sons, Brian Reid Martin born in London (2 June 1913), Merrill Reid Martin (29 Nov 1915 – after his return as a POW) and Leonard Reid Martin (15 March 1917 while Ernest was serving abroad).

Following his return to Brisbane after the war, Ernest was practicing as a Dentist in 1928 at 307 Queen Street, Brisbane  but later moved to Wickham Terrace.  He was a long-time member of the Odonatological Society of Queensland, with records showing is dental registration was as early as 1912.    Dr Martin was re-installed as a member of the Odonatological Society of Queensland in November 1915 after his return from Germany and England.

Dr Martin attended many of the Dental Conferences in Australia, including Adelaide in 1927 .   He was also President of the Australian Dental Association (previously the Odonatological Society) in 1930. 

Ernest was recognised in dental circles as a specialist in his class or work, practicing from his surgery at Inchcolm, on Wickham Terrace .   One of his main ambitions in his professional life was to keep abreast of latest developments in his area of expertise. 

Dr Ernest Martin was a keen follower of sport, particularly tennis, cricket and golf and was a member of the Brisbane Golf Club .  Unfortunately, due to an illness later in life he had been unable to participate in any strenuous exercise.    Dr E. S. Martin passed away unexpectedly on 14 February 1934 at the age of 47 years at his residence at Bayview Terrace, Clayfield.   

Ernest was survived by his widow, Nina Margaret Martin and three sons Brian Reid Martin, Merrill Reid Martin and Leonard Reid Martin.   His funeral was conducted at the Lutwyche Cemetery on 15 February 1934. 

Further details and citing to come...

Researched and written by Miriam King, March 2026. ©

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