Sebastián
González Martínez was the nephew of Sabastián Martínez Pérez (1747-1800), a successful
merchant from the Rioja who had established himself in Cádiz as an exporter of
Sherry to Britain. He married Jane Gobbett, the widow of his partner Martínez
de la Cuadra and had various children.
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| Sebastian Gonzalez Martinez (foto JL Jimenez) |
In 1790 he
founded his own company specialising in the export of Sherry, Port and Habana
cigars from an office in Mincing Lane, London. In 1822 John Peter Gassiot
(1797-1877) joined him forming the firm Martínez Gassiot & Co. Gassiot was an enthusiastic amateur scientist whose particular interest was electricity, and he did much work with James Clerk Maxwell. He and Martinez acquired a lodge (bodega) in Oporto in 1834, leaving its management to John
Fleurriet Delaforce, who would go on to found the famous Port house of that name.
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| John Peter Gassiot Senior (foto JL Jimenez) |
Soon they
were joined by John Peter’s sons Charles Ware Gassiot (1826-1902) and John
Peter Jr. (1820-?) who married María Manuela Moreno de Mora y Vitón whose
family were important in the wine business in El Puerto de Santa María and had
business connexions in England as well as Habana and Honduras. It is very
likely that this was a source of both cigars and Sherry, though the firm did
buy a lot of wine from Cuvillo, also in El Puerto de Santa María.
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| Label for the American market (foto JLJimenez) |
Sebastián
retired in 1849 when the firm was the largest importer of Port and Sherry to
the United Kingdom, and its control passed into the hands of the Gassiot
family. Charles really helped the business to thrive, and with no children he
built a collection of art and contributed much to charity. On his death he left
his art to the City of London and his money to St Thomas Hospital. John Peter
Jr. also died childless, leaving a fine portrait of his father to the Vintners
Company.
On the
death of the brothers, and with no children from either, the firm became a
public company in 1902 and was eventually taken over by Harveys in 1961 and
merged with Cockburn, so there was no more Sherry. The old offices in Mincing
Lane were destroyed by the Luftwaffe during the London blitz in 1940. The Martínez
Gassiot brand is now more of a sous-marque, especially since the firm was
acquired by the Symington Group in 2006, but there have been quite regular Martinez vintage port declarations since.
Much information from Jose Luis Jimenez
See also post on Sherry shippers who also dealt in Port
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