MARTINEAU

FOREBEARS Harriet Martineau (1802–76), the English writer, was the daughter of a Norwich manufacturer. She was descended from a family of French Huguenots who owned land around Poitou and Touraine in the 15th century. They included a number of surgeons in the 17th century. In the 19th century a branch of the family was firmly established in Birmingham, England; others went to North America.