David Alfred Martin, FBA (30 June 1929 – 8 March 2019)[1] was a British sociologist and Anglican priest who studied and wrote extensively about the sociology of religion.

[3][4] He was the son of a "between-maid" from Dorset and a groom from Hertfordshire who became a chauffeur and then a black cab driver in London and preached regularly at Hyde Park.

This enabled him to study for a PhD at the London School of Economics (LSE) with Professor Donald MacRae.

[8] This early work was extended and published in book form as A General Theory of Secularisation (1978),[9] a landmark text in the history of secularization studies.

[17] In 1953 he married Daphne Sylvia Treherne at Barnes Methodist Church; they had two sons and divorced in 1957.

[4] In 1962 he married Bernice Thompson, herself a distinguished sociologist at London University (Bedford College).