Martin Coles Harman

Martin Coles Harman (1885 – 5 December 1954) was an English businessman who, in 1925, bought the island of Lundy.

Martin Coles Harman
A one Puffin coin of 1929, bearing the portrait of Martin Coles Harman
Sovereign/Lord of Lundy
Reign	1925 – c. November 1933
Predecessor	Self-proclaimed Augustus Langham Christie (as immediate predecessor and private owner Sir Vere Hunt, 1st Baronet (as notable predecessor and leader of an Irish colony on Lundy)
Successor	Albion Harman
Born	1885 Steyning, Sussex, United Kingdom
Died	5 December 1954(1954-12-05) (aged 68–69) Oxted, Surrey
Spouse	Amy Ruth Bodger ​ ​ (m. 1913; died 1931)​
Children	John Pennington Harman Albion Pennington Harman Ruth Pennington Harman Jones Diana Pennington Keast
Regnal name Sovereign Harman
Occupation	Businessman
Criminal details
Conviction(s)	Unlawful currency production (first trial) Embezzlement (second trial)
Criminal penalty	£5 fine (1st conviction) 18 months imprisonment (2nd conviction)
Criminal status	Released

Born in Steyning in Sussex and educated at Whitgift School in Croydon, Harman had six brothers and five sisters. At the age of 16, he left school to work for Lazard, and became an influential figure in early 20th-century corporate finance in the City of London. In 1913, he married Amy Ruth Harman (née Bodger), and, in June 1919, Mr Harman moved to Chaldon, Surrey, where he lived with his wife and their four children. In 1926, he donated land he owned in the village to the National Trust which was subsequently named "Six Brothers Field" at his request.

Harman bought Lundy island and its supply boat the MV Lerina in 1925 for £25,000 (equivalent to £1,801,045 in 2023). In 1927, the GPO ended postal services to the island. For the next two years, Harman handled, and covered the costs of all the island's postage himself. On 1 November 1929, Harman introduced his own "Puffin" stamps to offset this cost. One Puffin is equivalent to one English penny, and printing of the stamps continues today covering the cost of shipping to the mainland, and postage in the UK and abroad. He later issued an independent Lundy currency of half Puffin and one Puffin coins, which were nominally equivalent to the British halfpenny and penny. This resulted in his prosecution by UK authorities for issuing illegal coinage under the Coinage Act of 1870. He was found guilty in 1931, and was fined £5 (equivalent to £429 in 2023) with fifteen guineas (£15 15s) expenses (equivalent to £1,352 in 2023). The coins were withdrawn and have since become collectors' items.

In 1928, Harman established the Lundy pony.

By 1928, Harman controlled a portfolio of companies worth an estimated £12 million. However, in 1931, his wife Amy died of kidney failure aged 47, and one year later Harman was declared bankrupt. As Lundy had been held in trust, Harman was able to keep his ownership of the island despite his bankruptcy. In November 1933, Harman was found guilty on charges of conspiracy to defraud in connection with a Korean syndicate, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Harman's son, John Pennington Harman was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross in Kohima, India in 1944. There is a memorial to him at the "VC Quarry" on the east side of Lundy.

Bibliography

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• Blunt, W (1986). John Christie of Glyndebourne. London, UK: Geoffrey Bles.
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• Joint, Laura (13 May 2010). "Delivering a unique postal service in Lundy". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
• "King of Lundy Island' Is Dead at 69; M. C. Harman Bought Vest-Pocket Domain Off England in '25". The New York Times. Vol. 104, no. 35381 (Late City ed.). 7 December 1954. p. 24. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022 – via TimesMachine.
• Palmer, Robert (13 October 2019). "A concise biography of Lance Corporal John Pennington HARMAN, V.C." (PDF). British Military History. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
• Stables, Daniel (24 May 2021). "Lundy: The tiny isle with a wild, lawless past". BBC Travel. BBC. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
• "The Harman Years". landmarktrust.org.uk/lundyisland/. Landmark Trust. n.d. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
• Tikkanen, Amy (6 May 2008) [20 July 1998]. "Martin Coles Harman". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.