Martha Sowerby
Martha Sowerby is the young Yorkshire housemaid assigned to attend Mary Lennox after the orphaned girl arrives at Misselthwaite Manor. She is a round, rosy, good-natured creature with a sturdy, outspoken manner utterly unlike the obsequious native servants Mary knew in India. Martha speaks broad Yorkshire, a dialect Mary initially finds incomprehensible, and she does not hesitate to challenge Mary's assumptions. When Mary imperiously demands to be dressed, Martha retorts, "Canna' tha' dress thysen!" and declares it "time tha' should learn." She tells Mary that her mother always said grand people's children would "turn out fair fools" with so much waiting on. This plain speaking, delivered without malice, begins to unsettle Mary's ingrained sense of entitlement.
Role as a Bridge to the Moor
Martha is the first person to tell Mary about the moor, describing it not as the barren waste Mary sees from her window but as a place "covered wi' growin' things as smells sweet" that is "fair lovely in spring an' summer." She speaks of the gorse, broom, and heather in flower, the scent of honey, the fresh air, and the singing of bees and skylarks. More importantly, she introduces Mary to her family, especially her brother Dickon. She tells Mary that Dickon, at twelve years old, has a young pony he found on the moor, that he is "a kind lad an' animals likes him," and that he saves bits of his bread to coax his pets. This mention of Dickon is what finally persuades Mary to go outside for the first time. Martha also reveals the existence of the locked garden, telling Mary that Mr. Craven had it shut when his wife died so suddenly and that he buried the key. This piece of information plants the seed of the central mystery that will drive Mary's exploration.
Friendship and Practical Kindness
Despite Mary's initial haughtiness and her furious outburst when Martha admits she thought Mary might be black, a genuine friendship develops. Martha's "queer Yorkshire speech and sturdy way" prove comforting, and Mary gradually ceases to resent her familiar talk, even beginning to find it interesting. Martha is the one who, on her day out, brings back a skipping-rope purchased by her mother with two pennies from Martha's own wages. She demonstrates how to use it and encourages Mary to practice, saying her mother believed "nothin' will do her more good than skippin' rope." This gift, born of genuine generosity from a family of fourteen living on sixteen shillings a week, marks a turning point in Mary's physical and emotional health. Martha also facilitates the correspondence with Dickon, providing pen, ink, and paper and dictating a letter that asks him to buy garden tools and seeds. She becomes the secret conduit between Mary and Colin, nervously but obediently following Colin's orders to bring Mary to his room, despite her terror of Mrs. Medlock's wrath.
Loyalty and Growth
Martha is fiercely loyal to her family and her position. She explains that she is Mrs. Medlock's servant, not Mary's, and that she got the place "out o' kindness" because Misselthwaite is not like other big houses. She is proud of her mother, Susan Sowerby, whom she describes as "that sensible an' hard workin' an' goodnatured an' clean that no one could help likin' her." When Mary discovers Colin, Martha is initially terrified of losing her place, but she is gradually won over by the positive changes in both children. She becomes an amused and complicit observer of their "play actin'," reporting to her mother the details of their secret. Martha herself undergoes a subtle change: the plain, sour-faced child she first met begins to look "different," with red in her cheeks and thicker hair, and Martha notes it with approval. Her full name is revealed as Martha Phoebe Sowerby when she signs the letter to Dickon.
Thematic Significance
Martha Sowerby embodies the healthy, unsentimental, and life-affirming values of the Yorkshire moor. She is the first person to treat Mary not as a mistress to be served but as a child who needs to learn to do things for herself. Her blunt honesty, her lack of servility, and her warm, practical kindness provide the initial model for a different kind of human relationship—one based on mutual respect and genuine care rather than on the command-and-obedience structure of colonial India. Through Martha, the novel introduces the idea that health and happiness come from connection to the natural world, from physical activity, and from the simple, unpretentious goodness of people like the Sowerbys. She is the conduit through which the regenerative forces of the moor and the secret garden first reach Mary Lennox.
