TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury
TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury
TRANSPLANTED IRISH INSTITUTIONS - University of Canterbury
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Protestantism.<br />
108<br />
Shepherd's main impact as a speaker was in America where "her<br />
effectiveness as a lecturer, however, depended on her success in remaining one jump ahead<br />
<strong>of</strong> the truth concerning her life before the Boston conversion." 128<br />
The 'truth' about<br />
Shepherd consisted <strong>of</strong> the fact that she was born Isabella Marron, a daughter <strong>of</strong> an Irish-<br />
Catholic soldier in India. It is from India that she travelled to other countries and gained<br />
her reputation.<br />
Her earlier life had been marked by the birth <strong>of</strong> an illegitimate child, participation in a swindling<br />
racket, and a term in jail for theft. Punctuating these activities were an interval as a Salvation<br />
Army worker and two years as the repentant inmate <strong>of</strong> a refuge for fallen women operated by the<br />
Sisters <strong>of</strong> the Good Shepherd at Bristol in England. Dismissed from the refuge as beyond reform<br />
in 1885, she left for Canada to conduct a "Gospel Army" in Ontario ... She had acquired a husband<br />
but had deserted him, and she arrived in Boston in 1887 ... Not until 1891 was her sordid story<br />
revealed in Boston. By that time her field <strong>of</strong> operations had been enlarged, both as lecturer and as<br />
leader <strong>of</strong> the Loyal Women, so that the revelations did not curtail- perhaps they even enhanced- her<br />
drawing power as a lecturer. 129<br />
Details such as these had appeared in Cleary's pamphlet Mrs Slattery: The<br />
Romance <strong>of</strong> a Sham Nun, which placed Maria Monk, Margaret Shepherd and Mary Slattery<br />
all in the same category <strong>of</strong> "sham nuns."130 There was a connection between Shepherd and<br />
Slattery because Slattery claimed in 1894 to represent the Loyal Women <strong>of</strong> American<br />
Liberty <strong>of</strong> which Shepherd was founder and leader. 131<br />
When Shepherd first lectured in Christchurch she <strong>of</strong>fered a series <strong>of</strong> four<br />
lectures. 132 Her first lecture was about two-thirds full. 133 Subsequent lectures were<br />
uneventful until 10 October 1902 at the Oddfellows Hall when Shepherd gave her final<br />
lecture on 'Romanism' and there was a minor disturbance-<br />
Two gentlemen sitting at the back <strong>of</strong> the building wanted to ask questions, but the audience was<br />
against them, and the lecturess declined to reply. Finally a man came in from the back, and<br />
threatened to tum them out if they did not keep quiet. There was a slight scuffle at the end <strong>of</strong> the<br />
I 28DonaJd L. Kinzer, An Episode in Anti-Catholicism. The American Protective Association, Seattle,<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Washington Press, 1964, p. 24.<br />
129rbid., p. 24.<br />
13~.W. Cleary, Mrs SlatteD': The Romance <strong>of</strong> a Sham Nun, Dunedin, New Zealand Tablet, 1900, p. 4.<br />
131QQ . K' 7<br />
. CIt., Inzer, p. 11 .<br />
132Two public lectures and two private lectures on 'Romanism.' Again there were 'Ladies Only' lectures<br />
and then ones for 'Ladies and Gentlemen.' It was the 'Ladies Only' lectures that were private. Press, 29<br />
September 1902.<br />
133Ibid.,3 October 1902.