Lydia Sellon
Lydia Sellon or Priscilla Lydia Sellon (1821 – 20 November 1876) was a British founder of an Anglican women's order. The Church of England established November 20 as a holy day to commemorate her work. Life Priscilla Lydia Smith was brought up in Grosmont in Monmouthshire, but she was born on 21 March 1821 in Hampstead. Her mother died when she was a small child. Her father, Commander Richard Baker Smith, who was in the Royal Navy married again and had eleven more children. In 1847 her father was left an inheritance by his maternal aunt and as a consequence the family name was changed to Sellon. In 1848 Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter, placed an appeal in the weekly Anglican newspaper The Guardian which appeared in January 1848 for help for the poor of Devonport. Phillpotts's request was for new churches and education for the population who had outgrown the local facilities. This request was answered by Sellon who was just about to travel to Italy for her health. Sellon contacted Edward Bouverie Pusey whom she knew and he introduced her to a local clergyman. Sellon and Catherine Chambers who was a family friend took advice from the local