Holidaying in Connemara just after the Millennium, I read one of those small grey boxes in the Rough Guide they use to give additional information about a specific location; in my case Ballynahinch Castle where I was having lunch. The description of a previous owner – Richard ‘Humanity Dick’ Martin - was intriguing.
Apparently, this man had pioneered animal rights in the early 19th century but was, somewhat paradoxically, the most feared duellist in Ireland. This snippet of information led me spending the following year living in Roundstone conducting pre-google research into Martin’s life and writing his biography.
The following year, and with the book published, I was preparing for a publicity tour of north America when the BBC ran series of television programmes and public polls in a quest to find the Greatest Briton of all time. Cases were made by various celebrities comparing the competing claims of David Beckham against William Shakespeare.
This led to how I used to open my book talk at American Irish history societies with a rather contentious statement, defused to a degree by my Welsh neutrality. My contention was that if an historical figure was to be judged on their legacy, then Richard Martin should be declared the Greatest Irish Man or Women of all time.
I then went on to expand on my claim to the baffled audience. In an age when rights and protection for animals were ramblings confined to certified lunatics, Martin, using the baronial powers conferred on him in his native Connemara, passed his own local legislation.
Next year will see the 200th Anniversary of the Ill Treatment of Cattle Act 1822 – Martin’s Law. What better way for Galway city to celebrate her greatest offspring then by naming the new pedestrian foot-crossing over the Salmon Weir as the ‘Humanity Dick Martin Bridge.’
Anyone found anyone guilty of ill-treating animals in their care would be forced to spend the night in Gráinne Ní Mháille’s ruined castle in order to reflect on the lecture delivered by Martin as he rowed the bewildered miscreant across Ballynahinch Lake.
As an old man, now in his sixties, Martin decided to return to the Westminster Parliament in order to expand his law. Using a combination of parliamentary guile and masterful oratory his Ill Treatment of Cattle Act, the world’s first piece of animal rights legislation, was passed. However, not content with merely having a law on the statute books, Martin then proceeded to enforce his act.
The day after receiving Royal Assent, Humanity Dick, still with the inbred mentality of a fearless duellist, marched into the hell on Earth that was Smithfield Market and proceeded to arrest bemused drovers beating their animals. For the next two years Martin charged around London single-handedly enforcing his law and at the same time educating perplexed members of the judiciary.
He remains the only man to have called a donkey as a witness in court. In 1824, realising that his work would require greater numbers of enforcers, he was the driving force behind the formation of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – an organisation that now protects millions of animals across the World.
Martin’s plans to expand his legislation were abruptly brought to a halt two years later when he was expelled from the British Parliament for rigging the Galway Election. Personally, I liked his defence to the Westminster Court of Enquiry that everyone rigs the Galway election.
The new bridge at the heart of the city would be a fitting tribute to one of the city’s greatest sons. What do you think?
Humanity Dick: Animal Rights Pioneer and Feared Duellist by Peter Philips is available in Kennys Bookshop. A musical on the life of Humanity Dick is now being produced in Galway and will be staged next year.
