Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Martin, Isabella

Wealthy woman and philanthropist who was the daughter of a wealthy wine merchant and wife of James Martin, with whom she had 15 children. She was one of the chief organisers of the Queen's Jubilee Fund and also a member of the Board of Control of the School of Industry for Orphan Girls. She became unhappy in her marriage and the conditions of their family home in Potts Point. She developed a distaste for the toxic smells emanating from Rushcutters Bay that often swept up to their property, and after two of her children and her sister died, she left her husband. She lived off her own substantial wealth leasing Greycliffe and then Woollahra House, before moving to Clairvaux, where she died.

Milestone
Born
22 Dec 1832
Died
29 Mar 1909
Buried
31 Mar 1909
Occupation
Property
Occupied
1853 - 1882
Occupied
1882 - 1889
Occupied
1889 - 1902
Occupied
1902 - 29 Mar 1909
Relationship
Child of
Sibling
Spouse
20 Jan 1853 - 1882