Howard Martin Otho Travers [also known as H.M. Travers, H.M.O. Travers, Howard Martin Otho Travers and Martin Travers] was born in Margate, Kent, England on 19 February 1886. From 1904 to 1908 he studied architecture, design, stained glass and calligraphy, at the Royal College of Art in London where he was taught by Arthur Beresford Pite (1861-1934), Edward Johnston (1872-1944), Christopher Whall (1849-1924), and William Richard Lethaby (1857-1931). After graduating from the RCA with a Diploma in Architecture in 1908, he was employed for a period as an assistant to Pite and then to Ninian Comper (1864-1960). He subsequently worked as a stained glass designer, decorative artist, architect, illustrator and painter.
In 1912 he set up his own practice and although he designed some buildings, he never formally registered as an architect.
Between c.1918 and 1925 he had a studio at Lowndes and Drury's Glass House in Fulham, London.
In 1925 he was appointed chief instructor in stained glass at the Royal College of Art, a position he held until 1948.
Although Travers professed that he was an agnostic, throughout his career he was closely aligned with the Anglo-Catholic movement. He designed fittings, furniture and stained glass for several churches, and drew illustrations for publications by the Society of SS. Peter and Paul.
Churches for which Travers designed windows were St Mary in Tyneham, Dorset (1924), St Mary and All Saints in Droxford, Hampshire (1938); St Thomas of Canterbury in Camelford, (Cornwall (1938); and St Giles in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire (1946).
Travers exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in London from 1911 to 1940 and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh in 1922. He also participated in the 9th (1910), 10th (1912) and 11th (1916) exhibitions of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society in London, and exhibited jointly with Grant as Martin Travers and T.W.F. Grant at the Royal Academy in London in 1929, 1933 and 1934.
Travers was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1921. During World War One Travers was a conscientious objector.
His address was given as 3 Priory Road, Bedford Park, London in 1910 and 1913; 1 Bath Road, Bedford Park, London in 1915; 11 Lettice Street, London in 1920; 48 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, london in 1921 and 1924; 8 St. Paul's Studios, Colet Gardens, London in 1927 and 1929; a 48 Colet Gardens, London in 1931 and 1940. He died in London on 25 July 1948. His address at the time of his death was 51 Colet Gardens, London
Travers designed a number of churches including The Good Shepherd in Carshalton, London (1930); The Holy Redeemer in Streatham Vale, London (1931); and Emmanuel Parish Church in Leyto, Londonn (1934-35), and St Cuthman's Church, Brighton (1937-38), in collaboration with Thomas Francis Wiltshire Grant (1885-1965).
He designed war memorials for Friern Barnet Pensioners in Friern Barnet, London (1921) and St Mary Magdalene church in Paddington, London (1929).
He alsodesigned the coat of arms for the Royal Society of Medicine in 1927.
Armstrong, Barrie and Armstrong, Wendy. The Arts and Crafts movement in the North East of England: a handbook. Wetherby, England: Oblong Creative Ltd., 2013
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Blagdon-Gamien, Peter E. Martin Travers, 1886-1948: a Handlist of His Work; wih a tricute to Martin Travers by Bro. Leonard Buckley and various reminiscences by John Crawford, etc. London : Ecclesiological Society; 1997
Hayward, John. 'Martin Travers (1886-1948)'. Church Building, no. 84, 2003, pp 52-54.
‘Obituary: Martin Travers’. The Journal of Stained Glass vol.10, no.2, 1949 pp.105-107
Stained glass marks & monograms. Compiled by Joyce Little. Edited by Angela Goedicke and Margaret Washbourn. London: National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies, 2002
Warrener, Rodney. Martin Travers, 1886–1948: An Appreciation. London: Unicorn Books, 2003
Yelton, Martin. Martin Travers: His Life and Work. Salisbury: Spire Books, 2016