Pamela Shepherd born Pamela Morgan known as Mother Shepherd (19 March 1836 – 24 February 1930) was a Welsh evangelist for the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

notably in

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

Life

Shepherd was born in

Talywain Talywain () is situated in Garndiffaith, Abersychan and Pentwyn in Torfaen in south east Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. Old mining area It is a semi rural area that has a long heritage in coal mining. The old British C ...

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. 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. left, Major James Dowdle of the Sally Army recruited her She was recruited by the Salvation Army in 1867 after she heard James Dowdle preach. He was known as "the Saved Railway Guard" and she was soon known as the "Hallelujah Washerwoman" as she witnessed and preached around London. In 1868 she was helping at

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Catherine Booth Catherine Booth (''née'' Mumford, 17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) was co-founder of The Salvation Army, along with her husband William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Mothe ...

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". In 1878, "Mother Shepherd" was sent to

by the

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. 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. She offered rooms where she lived taking in homeless girls.

Death and legacy

Shepherd died in

in 1930. She was given a public funeral with the local police acting as pall-bearers and leading ministers conducting the funeral service. Her contribution is remembered in the local

Cynon Valley Cynon Valley () is a former coal mining valley in Wales. Cynon Valley lies between Rhondda and the Merthyr Valley and takes its name from the River Cynon. Aberdare is located in the north of the valley and Mountain Ash is in the south of t ...

museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Pamela 1836 births 1930 deaths Welsh-speaking clergy Probation and parole officers People from Monmouthshire