Sarah Mallett (1764–1846) was one of the very small group of women authorised by

John Wesley John Wesley ( ; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a principal leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies ...

to become a

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

, in the early days of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. After Wesley's death in 1791, she married, and as Sarah Boyce, she continued to preach for another forty years - despite the ban on female preaching, imposed by the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1803. She lived in Norfolk, England, and preached widely around the county. After the death of her husband she travelled with another female preacher, Martha Grigson, which enabled her to preach both in London and Birmingham. Further details are available in her biography, ''My Dear Sally'' by David East (first edition published by World Methodist Historical Society Publications in May 2003, second revised edition published by the author on Blurb, May 2012).

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