In the St. Bartholomew's Fair of 1808, she came to the attention of George Douglas, the Earl of Morton, who went on to sponsor her to receive lessons from a Royal Academy of Arts painter, William Craig.

[3][11] There George Douglas, the Earl of Morton wanted to see if Biffin could really paint unaided, sitting in multiple sessions and taking the unfinished miniature with him so no one else could change it.

[11] Once he was convinced, he sponsored her to receive lessons from a Royal Academy of Arts painter, William Craig,[6][12] and gain favour of George III.

[3] Some time after 1817,[11] Biffin left Duke's apprenticeship, and under the Earl of Morton's sponsorship opened a studio on the Strand, London.

[3] Charles Dickens mentioned her in Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, and Little Dorrit, and in "A Plated Article", when describing pottery figures spoiled in the firing process.

[3] Queen Victoria awarded her a Civil List pension of £12 per annum,[3][d] and she travelled to Liverpool in 1841 where she would spend her final years.

[3] Her supporters in Liverpool, led by Richard Rathbone and including Jenny Lind, arranged a public subscription in 1847 to finance her for her final years.

[19] In February 2024, BBC news reported that the Museum of Somerset in Taunton, which holds a large collection of Sarah Biffin's work, had acquired a self-portrait by the artist.