James Elishama Smith

James Elishama Smith, often called Shepherd Smith (1801, Glasgow – 1857, Glasgow) was a British journalist and religious writer.

Smith studied at Glasgow University. Hearing Edward Irving preach in 1828, he became a millenarian and associated with followers of Joanna Southcott. For a couple of years he became a Christian Israelite under John Wroe. 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", 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, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25826 ‘Smith, James Elishama (Shepherd Smith) (1801–1857)] ’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004
*worldcat id|lccn-n88-101321