Mother Shepherd

Pamela Shepherd born Pamela Morgan known as Mother Shepherd (19 March 1836 – 24 February 1930) was a Welsh evangelist for the Salvation Army notably in Aberdare.

"Mother Shepherd"
Mother Shepherd
Born
Pamela Morgan

19 March 1836
Talywain
Died24 February 1930 (1930-02-25) (aged 93)
Aberdare
NationalityBritish
Other namesPamela Shepherd
Educationshe could read but not write
OccupationMissionary
Known foran evangelist for the Salvation Army in Aberdare

Life

Shepherd was born in Talywain in 1836. Her parents were Margaret (born Evans) and Benjamin Morgan and she was the first of their four children. Her father was a blacksmith and a Chartist and her mother was a Baptist from Cardiganshire. In 1845 the family moved to London as her father hoped to work for the Great Western Railway and besides he was finding it hard to find work given his political outlook. The family's finances had to depend on her mother, taking in washing, after her father took to drinking.[1]

In 1860 she married a carter named William Shepherd and the two of them remained in London after the rest of her family returned to Wales the following year. Her husband's family helped financially and she worked as a rag sorter and as a laundress to support her daughters - although she had also taken to drink.[1]

Major James Dowdle of the Sally Army recruited her

She was recruited by the Salvation Army in 1867 after she heard James Dowdle preach.[1] He was known as "the Saved Railway Guard"[2] and she was soon known as the "Hallelujah Washerwoman" as she witnessed and preached around London. In 1868 she was helping at William and Catherine Booth house and in the following year at the "Limehouse centre". This was an old music-hall that the mission had converted. No longer the "Hallelujah Washerwoman" she was called "Mother Shepherd".[1]

In 1878, "Mother Shepherd" was sent to Aberdare by the Salvation Army at the start of a period of growth for their mission. She was a native Welsh speaker which helped as she stood on street corners to preach on Fridays and Saturdays. The audience were mostly ironworkers and miners visiting the local taverns. After five years she had created seven new stations before she was recalled to London. Shepherd would return to Aberdare working for the community.[1]

Shepherd admitted that she could read but she had never learned to write. She served as one of the areas probation officers when they were first introduced.[3] She offered rooms where she lived taking in homeless girls.[4]

Death and legacy
Mother Shepherd's funeral on St David's Day in Aderdare

Shepherd died in Aberdare[5] in 1930. She was given a public funeral with the local police acting as pall-bearers and leading ministers conducting the funeral service.[1]

Her contribution is remembered in the local Cynon Valley museum.[5]

References
  1. Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (2004-09-23). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/58577. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/58577. Retrieved 2023-01-30. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. "Early pioneers | The Salvation Army". www.salvationarmy.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  3. Davies, Russell (2018-03-28). Sex, Sects and Society: 'Pain and Pleasure': A Social History of Wales and the Welsh, 1870-1945. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-78683-214-6.
  4. Unsworth, Madge (1949). Maiden Tribute: A Study in Voluntary Social Service. Salvationist Pub. and Supplies.
  5. Hall, Rhian (2022-03-02). "Pamela 'Mother' Shepherd, 1836 - 1930". Cynon Valley Museum Trust. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
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