Martin was born in Adelaide to Ernest Montgomerie Martin
AMIEE. (1878–1956) and his wife Lorna Gledstanes Martin, née Jacob, (1889–1973), both associated with the Unitarian Christian Church of
Wakefield Street. Ernest was a son of vigneron
Henry Maydwell Martin and nephew of
Anna Montgomerie Martin; Lorna lost two brothers in
The Great War; a third was awarded the
Military Medal for bravery and later hounded for his Communist sympathies. Educator
Caroline Jacob (1861–1940) was a great-aunt. In 1945 she founded the Mary Martin Book Shop on
Grenfell Street,
Adelaide. As of 1998 there were four Mary Martin bookshops in Australia, and the Kesavamurthy family ran Mary Martin Booksellers from Coimbatore, India. Mary Martin Booksellers continues now with their Head Office in Singapore. Mary was also a foundation member of the South Australian branch of the Contemporary Art Society of Australia, and in 1939 won the Tormore prize for English Literature. ==References==