Martin Howy Irving (21 February 1831 – 23 January 1912) was an English rower and educationist who spent nearly all his career in Australia.
[1] In the same year, he was runner up in the Silver Goblets paired with Walter Francis Short and losing to Philip Nind and Henry Raine Barker in the final.
Irving took much interest in the development of the young university, but in January 1871 he resigned to become headmaster of Wesley College, Melbourne.
At the end of five years at Wesley, Irving decided that he would prefer the control of a school untrammelled by any committee or council.
He retired from the public service board in 1894 with a pension, and in 1900 returned to England and devoted himself to the affairs of the Catholic Apostolic Church, of which he had always been an adherent.
[4] Irving, who was well over six feet high, and an excellent oarsman and rifle shot, was the founder of amateur rowing in Victoria.
He was a man of fine character with a good sense of business, and was a strong influence in the development of both secondary and university education in Victoria.