James Martin & Co. of Gawler, South Australia, was a most substantial enterprise which could trace its origin back to 1848 when established as a blacksmith and wheelwright. The second company of the same name operated in Sydney from around 1875, initially as an importer of machinery, surviving until the mid-1920’s, with James Martin himself passing away in 1898. His firm held the NSW agencies for Marshall steam engines, Hornsby-Akroyd oil engines and Aermotor windmills.

James Martin & Co. of Gawler South Australia

James Martin, born in 1821, seeking relief from asthma,  arrived in So