Martin was born and brought up in Manchester and began his Masonic life in 1992 when he was initiated into Milton Lodge meeting at Ashton-under-Lyne. The following year, he was Exalted into Tudor Chapter which then met at Oldham. He first became Master in 1998 and First Principal in 2001.
In 2000 he became involved within the District structure as the District Charity Steward for Ashton and Mossley and after several years, was appointed District Mentor.
Within the Craft Province, he was acting Standard Bearer in 1999 following which he joined the Deputy DCs team, first for the Royal Arch and then for the Craft and remained with them for several years.
In 2009, Martin was appointed as the first Provincial Mentor, establishing the (then) Provincial framework and developing the handbook for East Lancashire which was subsequently used by a number of other Provinces.
In February 2010, he was invested within the Craft as an Assistant Provincial Grand Master during a special meeting of Lodge of Silent Temple No 126 at Burnley and took on responsibility for the Northern Area. On retiring from the role in 2015, he became Provincial Grand Secretary for the Craft and Provincial Grand Scribe E for the Holy Royal Arch.
In March 2019 he was appointed Deputy Grand Superintendent for the Holy Royal Arch, a position he held until the end of 2021.
He currently holds the rank of Past Senior Grand Deacon within the United Grand Lodge of England having previously held the acting rank. In Supreme Grand Chapter, he is a Past Grand Sword Bearer.
In the Mark degree, Martin was Advanced in Union Mark in 1995 when it met at Oldham and was Elevated in Union RAM the following year. He was subsequently a Founder of Faith RAM No 20. He is a past member of Mossley RAM No 1381 where he was Commander in 2007.
He is currently a member of Goulburn Mark No 680 where he served as Master in 2019, a joining member of Lodge of Good Report RAM No 1309, Manchester Engineers Mark Lodge No 1059 and Rose of York No 1010 Mark and RAM.
In the Province of West Yorkshire, he was a Founder of Peace RAM No 681 where he was Commander in 2012. He is also a member of The Carl Whitehead Lodge of RAM No 110 and Peace Mark Lodge No 681 where he was Master in 2004 and 2016.
In 2019 he received first appointment in Grand Mark Lodge to PAGSwdB through West Yorkshire and was appointed to ProvRAMGR in East Lancashire in 2011. In may 2023 he was appointed as APGM within the Mark Province of East Lancashire and he received RAMGR. He was appointed Deputy PGM in May 2024 and later that year promoted to the grand rank of PGSD.
Martin has always enjoyed his membership of a number of our Companion Orders including Knights Templar, Secret Monitor, Allied, Rose Croix and Red Cross.
And before you reach for the forms, he has no plans to join anything else …
Outside of Freemasonry, Martin is very proud to have spent over forty years involved in the work of various charities both locally and nationally as a Board Member and Trustee.
For over twenty years he has been involved in theatre as a writer having currently written 24 works for the stage and published two collections of them. He is very active promoting theatre, new writers and their work as well as adjudicating theatre festivals and reviewing the arts.