James Martin (engineer)

Sir James Martin was a British engineer who together with Captain Valentine Baker founded the Martin-Baker aircraft company, which is a leading producer of aircraft ejection seats.

Life

James Martin was born 11 September 1893 in the townland of Killinchy-in-the-Woods, known locally as Killinchy Woods, Crossgar, County Down in Ireland. He established his own engineering firm in 1929.
In 1934, he and Valentine Baker formed Martin-Baker; Captain Baker took the test pilot role. It was in a crash of their third design, the MB 3, that Baker was killed.
In 1964 Martin was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club.
In 2004, Martin was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

Commemoration

Martin's contribution to engineering was commemorated by the Northern Bank in its Inventor series of banknotes, which featured his portrait on the bank's £100 note. The note was discontinued in 2013 when the bank reissued its banknotes under the new Danske Bank brand.