Sherwood

Sherwood, MARY MARTHA, a prolific writer of religious and juvenile fiction, was the daughter of Dr Butt, chaplain to George III., and a descendant of Sir William Butts, physician to Henry VIII. She was born at Stanford, Worcestershire, May 6, 1775, and from early years was an indefatigable narrator of stories. In 1803 she married her cousin Henry (afterwards Captain) Sherwood, and sailed for India, where she showed strong sympathy with the religious labours of Henry Martyn and Dr Corrie, Bishop of Madras. Her husband predeceased her (1849), and she died at Twickenham, September 22, 1851. Her first book, the Traditions, was written when she was seventeen. Her Susan Grey (1802) was one of the first attempts to write on religious subjects for the poor. Of her seventy-seven religious works and stories the least forgotten are the Little Woodman, Little Henry and his Bearer, and the Fairechild Family. A collected edition of her works in 16 vols. was issued in New York. See Life (chiefly autobiographical), by her daughter Sophia Kelly (1854).