Born 5 August 1635, he was eldest son of James Martine (1615–1684), a minister of the Church of Scotland in Fifeshire;[1] his mother—his father's first wife—was Janet Robinson, who died 13 September 1644, and his grandfather was Dr. George Martine, principal of St. Salvator's College, St. Andrews.
[2] Then he was deprived as a Jacobite non-juror, refusing to pledge himself to William III and Mary II.
[3] Martine was secretary and companion to Archbishop James Sharp, who died in 1679.
[2] He was called "Martine of Clermont", after land he acquired in 1668 (also Cleremont, Claremont).
[6][7] Selections from a memorandum-book of household and travelling expenses with Sharp were printed by the Maitland Club (Miscellany, ii.