HON. WILLIAM MELVILLE MARTIN, K. C.

Photograph

  
	Hon. William Melville Martin, long one of the leaders of the Saskatche-
wan bar, was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeal on the 22nd of
July, 1922, following the close of his term as second Premier of the pro-
vince. He was born at Norwich, Oxford county, Ontario, on the 23d of
August, 1876, his parents being Rev. William M. and Christina (Jamieson)
Martin, both of Scotch descent. The father, for many years a Presby-
terian minister, is now living in London, Ontario.
	In the acquirement of an education William Melville Martin attended
the Clinton Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto, from which
institution he was graduated in 1898, receiving an honorary degree in
the classics department. He then entered the Ontario School of Peda-
gogy at Hamilton and following his graduation therefrom he taught
classics in the Harriston high school from 1899 until 1901. In the latter
year he took up the study of law at Osgoode Hall, where he was a scholar-
ship man in 1902 and 1903. It was in 1903 that he located in Regina,
Saskatchewan, and in the following year was called to the bar of the
Northwest Territories, becoming an associate of James Balfour. The firm
afterward became Balfour, Martin, Casey & Blair, and Mr. Martin gained
an enviable reputation among the representatives of the profession in
Saskatchewan as a barrister of pronounced ability and broad legal learn-
ing.
	At Mitchell, Ontario, in 1906, Mr. Martin was united in marriage
to Miss Violette Florence Thomson, daughter of Walter Thomson, who
was a prominent manufacturer of oatmeal in that city.  Mr. and Mrs.
Martin have become parents of three sons.
	From early manhood Mr. Martin was prominent in politics as a sup-
porter of the Liberal party. In 1906 he declined the proffered nomina-
tion as Dominion candidate for the constituency of western Assiniboia
to succeed Hon. Walter Scott, who had resigned to become Premier of
Saskatchewan. In 1908 he was nominated for the new federal constituency
of Regina and elected by a majority of seven hundred and sixty, while in
September, 1911, he was reelected by a majority of seventeen hundred
and thirty. He remained a member of the House of Commons for Regina
until October 20, 1916, when he was chosen Premier of Saskatchewan,
serving in that high position through the succeeding six years with honor
to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. On the 4th of April, 1922,
he resigned the premiership and subsequently took his seat on the bench
as Judge of the Court of Appeal. Devotedly attached to his profession,
systematic and methodical in habit, sober and discreet in judgment, calm
in temper, diligent in research, conscientious in the discharge of every
duty, courteous and kind in demeanor and inflexibly just on all occasions,
these qualities have enabled Mr. Justice Martin to take first rank among
the judiciary of the province.  His reported opinions show a thorough
mastery of the questions involved, a rare simplicity of style and an admir-
able terseness and clearness in the statement of the principles upon which
the opinions rest. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian, while fraternally
he is identified with the Masonic order and the Sons of Scotland. He is a
member of the Assiniboia and Wascana Country Clubs and turns for
recreation to gardening, fishing and golf.


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