MARVIN

At the age of sixteen he went to Russia to join his father, who was assistant-manager of an engineering works on the Neva. He remained in Russia for six years (1870–6) and acquired a good knowledge of the Russian language. For eighteen months he was the correspondent of The Globe and Traveller at Saint Petersburg. Returning to London and after passing the civil service examination, he was appointed as a temporary writer at the Custom House. In 1877 he entered the Foreign Office as a copying clerk. On 29th May 1878 he was employed to make a copy of a secret treaty with Russia, the Anglo Russian Convention of 30th May 1878. The same evening he supplied The Globe and Traveller with a from memory summary of the treaty. On 1st June Lord Salisbury, the then Foreign Secretary, faced with the alternative of admitting the secret deal, said in the House of Lords that this summary was wholly unworthy of their lordships' confidence. On 14th June The Globe printed a complete text of the treaty which Marvin had again provided from memory. On 26th June Marvin was arrested, but was released on 16th July after it was found that he had committed no offence known to English law. His actions prompted a tightening of internal regulations that eventually led to the enactment in 1889 of Britain's first Official Secrets legislation