Foremost amongst the noted women of the Independent Church must be
mentioned Sarah Martin, of whose life a sketch appeared in the _Edinburgh
Review_ as far back as 1847. A life of her was also published by the
Religious Tract Society. Sarah, who joined the Yarmouth church in 1811,
was born at Caistor. From her nineteenth year she devoted her only day
of rest, the Sabbath, to the task of teaching in a Sunday-school. She
likewise visited the inmates of the workhouse, and read the Scriptures to
the aged and the sick. But the gaol was the scene of her greatest
labours. In 1819, after some difficulty, she obtained admission to it,
and soon seems to have acquired an extraordinary influence over the minds
of the prisoners. She then gave up one day in the week to instruct them
in reading and writing. At length she attended the prison regularly, and
kept an exact account of her proceedings and their results in a book,
which is now preserved in the public library of the town. As there was
no chaplain, she read and preached to the inmates herself, and devised
means of obtaining employment for them. She continued this good work
till the end of her days in 1843, when she died, aged fifty-three. A
handsome window of stained glass, costing upwards of 100 pounds, raised
by subscription, has been placed to her memory in the west window of the
north aisle of St. Nicholas Church. But her fame extends beyond local
limits, and is part of the inheritance of the universal Church. It was
in Mr. Walford's time that Sarah Martin commenced her work. Mr. Walford
tells us, in his Autobiography, that the Church had somewhat degenerated
in his day, that the line of thought was worldly, and not such as became
the Gospel. It is clear that in his time it greatly revived, and, even
as a lad, the intelligence of the congregation seemed to lift me up into
quite a new sphere, so different were the merchants and ship-owners of
Yarmouth from the rustic inhabitants of my native village. In this
respect, if I remember aright, the family of Shelley were particularly
distinguished. One dear old lady, who lived at the Quay, was
emphatically the minister's friend. She had a nice house of her own and
ample means, and there she welcomed ministers and their wives and
children. It is to be hoped, for the sake of poor parsons, that such
people still live. I know it was a great treat to me to enjoy the
hospitality of the kind-hearted Mrs. Goderham, for