MARTIN, ROBERT B. (1784-1934)

MARTIN, ROBERT B., hotel keeper; b. Bridport, Dorset, England, c1784; m. Ann - ; d. Chatham, 31 Oct 1834.

Soon after his arrival in Chatham in 1826, Robert Martin, "late of London," bought a hotel from George Johnston, which under Martin's management, at least, was known as the Royal Hotel. It was announced in 1829 and again in 1830 that the "commodious, large, well-built, and well accustomed House known as the Royal Hotel" was available to let, but Martin continued to be the proprietor of it until his premature death in 1834. His widow then conducted it until 1841.

The widow Ann Martin, "a friend of the sick, the needy, and the distressed," died in Chatham in 1857, leaving a sister, Grace Moore, who had come from England a decade previously to live with her.