Gipsy Smith
1860-1947 Rodney "Gipsy" Smith was a British evangelist who conducted evangelistic campaigns in the United States and Great Britain for over 70 years. He was an early member of the Salvation Army and a contemporary of Fanny Crosby and G. Campbell Morgan.
Smith was born in a gypsy tent in Epping Forest, six miles northeast of London. His Father, Cornelius Smith, was in and out of jail for various offences. There, he heard the gospel from a prison chaplain; later, he and his brothers were converted at a mission meeting. From 1873 on, "The Converted Gypsies" were involved in numerous evangelistic efforts.
At a convention at the Christian Mission (later to become the Salvation Army) headquarters in London, William Booth noticed the Gypsies and realized the potential in young Smith. On 25 June 1877 Smith accepted the invitation of Booth to be an evangelist with and for the Mission.
His evangelistic ministry spanned various continents and seven decades. By 1901 he was the missioner for the National Free Church Council. He continued this work until 1912. Under the auspices of the YMCA he ministered to soldiers in World War I for which he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by King George V. He continued to hold evangelistic/revival meetings until shortly before his death.
