Savory, Martha

Author: Savory, Martha

Biography:

SAVORY, Martha, later YEARDLEY (1781-1851: Wikipedia)

She was born into a Quaker family at Charles St., Covent Garden, London on 8 Mar. 1781, the daughter of the prosperous goldsmith Joseph Savory (1745-1821) and his wife Anna Bellamy (1745-85). After the early death of her mother she was sent to school at Frenchay, Gloucestershire, a village near Bristol with a significant Quaker population and a meeting house. Some of her first works in verse were published by the Quaker firm of Darton (with various partners). Poetical Tales (1808) had the distinction of being disowned by its author, who decided it was “unhallowed” and attempted to suppress it, only to have it reissued by another publisher under the fictitious authorship of “Mrs. Smith.” The “Testimony” drawing on her spiritual diary that appeared after her death reveals that she struggled against intellectual pride until a meeting at Southwark, London, in 1814 at which she felt able to “surrender” to God. In 1818 the same group called her to the ministry and later gave her permission to serve as a missionary in France, which she did for a year in 1821 and again for a time in 1825. On the second occasion she was escorted home by a fellow-Quaker, John Yeardley, a widower who had been living and preaching in Lower Saxony. They were married at the Gracechurch Street meeting in London on 13 Dec. 1826 and embarked on a life of studying languages, writing, and travelling together. In 1842 they established a school for girls on Corfu. Friends’ Books contains a list of their many separate and joint publications; extracts from their correspondence on the Continent were published in 1835. She died at their home at Stamford Hill, London, on 8 May 1851 and was buried at Stoke Newington. Her husband continued their work, adding Norway, southern Russia, and Turkey to the tally of countries visited. He died at Stamford Hill on 11 Aug. 1858 and was buried with her at Stoke Newington. (“Martha Savory Yeardley,” Wikipedia 20 Sept. 2024; “Yeardley, John,” ODNB 20 Sept. 2024; A Testimony of Devonshire House Monthly Meeting, concerning M. Yeardley [1851]; Friends’ Books 2: 539-40, 969-71; ancestry.com 20 Sept. 2024; findmypast.com 20 Sept. 2024)