Emma Martin

1812-1851

Was born in Bristol and after the death of her father she moved to Clifton with her mother and stepfather. At seventeen she joined the radical Particular Baptists. She later married Isaac Luther Martin and together they had three daughters. He was, however, 'a husband … whose company it was a humiliation to endure' and in the years after their marriage, despite all her religious and educational activities, Emma Martin became miserable and restless. She heard Alexander Campbell (1796-1870) in 1839 and he caused her to support the socialist Owenite points of view. At the time Campbell was known as Robert Owen's "principal Scottish disciple". However, Martin rejected the socialist view that religion was not important. Martin challenged this idea and used her own beliefs to challenge the secular approach. However, it was Martin who was eventually persuaded. Martin left her husband and rejected his faith, instead taking up the Owenite cause. In 1840 she was in discussions with James Pierrepont Greaves who was trying to make Owenism less secular. By 1841 she was addressing the Owenite annual conference where her views on women's rights were received. She spoke of the freedom that Socialism might bring women by giving them financial independence. Martin was touring the country and speaking publicly to thousands. She had to leave her daughters with friends and this must have put a strain on her financially. Martin was stoned by opponents and she could find crowds that were either attracted or there to object to her atheism. There was a realistic likelihood that she could be imprisoned for blasphemy and she formed an organisation with George Jacob Holyoake to mitigate this risk. However, she was taken to court, but unlike Holyoake, she was never convicted. In 1845 she withdrew from public speaking and became a midwife. Martin died in Finchley Common in 1851 of tuberculosis and is buried in Highgate Cemetery. She died an atheist. Holyoake, who had spoken at her funeral, published "The Last Days of Emma Martin: Advocate of Freethought" the following year.