Born in Camberwell, London, Martin began adult life as a midshipman, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to India before 'discovering' Newlyn in 1870.  He painted coastal landscapes and scenes of fishing life. He was the only artist listed as resident in Newlyn at the time of the 1871 Census, and the only one of the first-generation of Newlyn artists to be in the vicinity at the time of the 1881 Census.

Martin and his wife, Helen Amy, retained their tenancy at Castle Cliff until 1883, later moving to the Plymouth area: thus he had been painting in Newlyn for up to twelve years prior to the arrival of the main body of artists to the locality.

Two of his paintings were included in the 1889 West Cornwall Art Union Exhibition in Penzance. He exhibited at the NAG Opening Exhibition in 1895, and was described in the reviews as 'the original Newlynite' although he was, by that time, exhibiting from a London address.

The artist married a second time, after the death of his first wife, to Rosina Blake (called Rose) and with her had two children, the second of whom, Nora Kate Lympany, died in 2002, aged 99 years. Martin spent the last years of his life living at 5 Brunel Terrace in Saltash, Cornwall, beside the River Tamar.