Not Just a Lord Mayor’s Wife: Dorcas Martin’s Story

On 1st September 1599, Dorcas Martin — translator, bookseller, Puritan, and wife of Sir Richard Martin, twice Lord Mayor of London — was laid to rest at All Hallows, Tottenham.

Though she lived much of her life in her husband’s shadow, Dorcas carved out a place of her own in Elizabethan London. She acted as a bookseller during the fierce “pulpit wars” between Puritan preacher Thomas Cartwright and John Whitgift, and her translations of prayers and psalms appeared in "The Monument of Matrones" (1582) — the very first anthology of women’s writing published in England.

In this podcast, I explore the life of Dorcas Martin:
- Her family and marriage to Sir Richard Martin, Master of the Mint and Lord Mayor.
- Her bold role in circulating controversial Puritan texts.
- Her translations and inclusion among the first printed voices of English women.
- Her enduring legacy, remembered in epitaphs and dedications.

Dorcas may not have been a queen or martyr, but her voice shaped Elizabethan religious culture. It’s time to remember her.

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