British Liberal politician Thomas Martineau, began his career as a lawyer, articling with Arthur Ryland, then joining him as a partner in the firm Ryland and Martineau. He became an alderman of Birmingham in 1883 and mayor from 1884 to 1887, the second of what were to be five generations of his family as Birmingham mayors. He succeeded in his efforts to have Birmingham become an assize town. He was also instrumental in the passage of the Welsh Water Bill. Among his other duties was that of president of the Birmingham Municipal School of Art. A Unitarian himself, he came from a notable of Birmingham family descended from French Huguenot exiles who settled in Norwich in the seventeenth century. He was a friend of Queen Victoria who knighted him in 1887. His nephew, Neville Chamberlain, became prime minister.

Dr. John "Gentle" Martland was a master at Upper Canada College in the 19th century.