William Cowherd was a Christian minister serving a congregation in the City of Salford, England, immediately west of Manchester, and one of the philosophical forerunners of the Vegetarian Society founded in 1847. He was the founder of the Bible Christian Church; Cowherd advocated and encouraged members of his then small group of followers, known as "Cowherdites", to abstain from the eating of meat as a form of temperance.

The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism.