James Elishama Smith, often called Shepherd Smith (1801,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

– 1857,

) was a British journalist and religious writer. Smith studied at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. Hearing

Edward Irving Edward Irving (4 August 17927 December 1834) was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Early life Edward Irving was born at Annan, Annandale the second son of Ga ...

preach in 1828, he became a

millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism (from Latin , "containing a thousand") is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which "all things will be changed". Millenarian ...

and associated with followers of

Joanna Southcott Joanna Southcott (or Southcote; April 1750 – 26 December 1814) was a self-described religious prophetess from Devon, England. A "Southcottian" movement continued in various forms after her death; its eighth prophet, Mabel Barltrop, died i ...

. For a couple of years he became a Christian Israelite under

John Wroe John Wroe (19 September 1782 – 5 February 1863) was a British evangelist who founded the Christian Israelite Church in the 1820s after having what he believed were a series of visions. Biography Wroe was born, on 19 September 1782, in the vi ...

. He moved to London in 1832, and his millenarianism turned socialist. He translated Saint-Simon, edited Robert Owen's journal ''Crisis'', and wrote for James Morrison's ''Pioneer''. Smith edited ''The Shepherd'' 1834–5 and 1837–8, and wrote leaders for the '' Penny Satirist''. In 1843 he founded a penny weekly, the ''

Family Herald ''The Family Herald: A Domestic Magazine of Useful Information & Amusement'' (1843–1940) was a weekly story paper launched by George Biggs in 1842, and re-established in May 1843 with James Elishama Smith and mechanised printing. By 1855 it had ...

'', which at one point approached a circulation of half a million.

Works

*''The Anti-Christ, or, Christianity Reformed'', 1833 *''The Divine Drama of History and Civilization'', 1854 *''The Coming Man'', 1873

External links

*Timothy C. F. Stunt
‘Smith, James Elishama (Shepherd Smith) (1801–1857)
��, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, James Elishama 1801 births 1857 deaths British male journalists Christian writers British socialists 19th-century British journalists Male journalists 19th-century British male writers