Sir Richard Martin, 1st Baronet, of Overbury Court

Martin was the older of two sons of Robert Martin (1808–1897) of Overbury Court near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire and his wife, Mary Ann (d. 1892), who was the daughter of John Biddulph of the banking firm of Cocks, Biddulph & Co. His younger brother John Biddulph Martin was also a banker and statistician. Robert Martin was a partner of the Grasshopper Bank, which later became Martins Bank.

He was educated at Harrow School and at Exeter College, Oxford, before joining his maternal grandfather's bank. He later became one of the founders of the British North Borneo Company and of the Institute of Bankers.

Martin first stood for election to the House of Commons at the 1868 general election, when he was an unsuccessful candidate in the Eastern division of Worcestershire. He was unsuccessful again in next candidacy, at the 1880 general election in the City of London.

However, 3 months later he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tewkesbury at a by-election held in July 1880 after the result of the general election in April was overturned on petition. Several of his ancestors had held the seat in the past, but Richard was the last Martin to represent Tewkesbury. The Parliamentary Borough of Tewkesbury was abolished under the Reform Act 1885 and replaced with a wider county division of Gloucestershire.