The Barnwalls were an ennobled family of Norman descent based in the counties of Dublin, Kildare and Meath in Leinster.

Richard's father later married Mary Lynch, a member of another "Tribal" family, with whom he had sons Robert and Anthony.

Though both of his parents were born to Catholics, Richard Martin was raised a Protestant and educated in England and later became a wealthy landlord in Ireland.

"[6] Martin did not graduate with a degree but studied for admission to the bar and was admitted to Lincoln's Inn on 1 February 1776.

He continued to represent County Galway in Westminster as a political independent until 1812 and again from 1818, supporting the Tory government of Lord Liverpool.

Martin's attempt to have an anti-cruelty-to-animals bill passed stands in a chronological line with some previous failed efforts in England's Parliament.

A sympathetic groundswell of public opinion emerged in the late 18th and early 19th century in opposition to cultural amusements such as bull-baiting and cock-fighting and in the visible maltreatment of animals that were herded in for slaughter at London's Smithfield Market.

[14] The first unsuccessful legislative attempt was led by William Johnstone Pulteney on 18 April 1800 to ban bull-baiting but it was lost to the opposition vote in the House of Commons.

[17] Martin drafted a new bill in consultation with the then retired Lord Erskine as well as with the agricultural writer and animal rights advocate John Lawrence (1753-1839).

[19] He also tried to spread his ideas in the streets of London, becoming the target of jokes and political cartoons that depicted him with the ears of a donkey.

[21] In 1821 letters were exchanged by various correspondents in periodicals raising concerns about the maltreatment of animals, which included one written by Rev.

Broome invited various clergy, lawyers and parliamentarians to vote on the resolution to create the Society and among those present were Thomas Fowell Buxton MP (1786-1845), William Wilberforce (1759-1833), Richard Martin, Sir James Mackintosh MP, Basil Montagu, William Mudford, Rev.

Due to Martin's profile as a politician and as the drafter of the anti-cruelty legislation, a public perception developed that he was the initiator and creator of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

[37] He had to flee into hasty exile to Boulogne, France, because he could no longer invoke parliamentary immunity to avoid arrest for debt.

[41] During the period of the family's exile in Boulogne they became well acquainted with the poet Sarah Burdett (herself a relative of Baroness Burdett-Coutts 1814–1906) and she wrote a poem on 12 April 1834 expressing admiration and blessings on Mary Jane Martin (Richard's daughter born in 1810).