Sir Horatio Hale Shephard 1842 - 1921
Sir Horatio Hale Shephard , Author of The India Contract Act [n|?] The Transfer Of Property Act, Limitation [n|?] Oxford Undergraduate (1861). Advocate General and Judge of the High Court in the Madras Presidency. He resigned as judge in 1901 and returned to England where he rose to the post of the legal Adviser and Solicirtor to the Secretary of state for India. Called to the Bar at Inner Temple in 1867. ------------- Did he have a son? Births Sep 1872 Shephard Horatio Chelsea 1a 288 Deaths Sep 1872 Shephard Horatio 0 St. Geo. H. Sq. 1a 257 -------- Is this his son? Gordon Strachey Shephard (later Brigadier General, RFC, DSO, etc) 1886-1918 The second son of Sir Horatio and Lady Shephard of of 58 Montagu Square, London W, he was born in Madras, India, on 9 July 1885, and named for General Gordon, killed in Khartoum in the same year. Educated at Summer Fields, at Eton (1898-1903) and at Sandhurst. Gazetted Second Lieutenant to a Regular Army battalion of the Royal Fusiliers on 28 January 1905. He became an outstanding yachtsman and is thought to have 'spied' on strategic places around the German seaboard in the manner of the heroes of Erskine Childers's fictional novel, The Riddle of the Sands, published in 1903. In fact, Shephard had met and knew Erskine Childers well. Shephard's covert operations came to an abrupt halt when he and a companion were briefly detained by the German authorities at Emden, after injudiciously taking photographs in a sensitive area. Released without charge, Shephard returned to the UK and after receiving lessons at the Bristol School, Brooklands, gained his Royal Aero Club Certificate (Number 215), on a Bristol machine on 14 May 1912. Attached to the RFC from July 1912, he at first concentrated on the use of airships for military purposes but soon turned his attentions to aeroplanes. On 13 August 1914, as a Flight Commander with 4 Squadron, he accompanied the original RFC contingent to France, personally piloting a BE 2 to the front. On 22 August 1914, Shephard landed at Beaumont, about 12 miles east of Maubeuge, for petrol, and there received first hand accounts of the fighting from French cavalry falling back from the Sambre canal. Shephard made an immediate and significant impact on events when, on 24 August 1914, he and his observer, Lieutenant I M Bonham-Carter, brought back conclusive evidence to the Staff, that von Kluck's right wing would swamp the British Army unless the retreat was continued. On 4 November 1914, Shephard narrowly escaped disaster when the longeron of his BE2b, `487', was shot through. He was, around this time, appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the French. His MC was announced in the London Gazette of 18 February 1915: 'For services in connection with operations in the field'. After a brief return to the UK, Shephard crossed again to France on 4 March 1915, this time to command 6 Squadron. Shephard led `6' through the great battles of 1915 before returning to England in December to command Eighth Wing, RFC, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He returned to France again in the new year of 1916, this time to command 12 Corps, RFC, which consisted of 8, 12 and 13 Squadrons. Engaged mainly on counter-battery work from 1 July 1916 - the opening day of the Battle of the Somme - through the battle's end in the following November. In January 1917, Shephard took over temporary command of III BrigadeRFC, and on 8 February was confirmed to the command of I Brigade, RFC, with the rank of Brigadier General. After the fighting in and around Arras in the following April, Shephard was created Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) - London Gazette of 4 June 1917, 'for distinguished service in the field'. Shephard was also Mentioned in Despatches on no less than six occasions during the Great War - London Gazettes of 20 November 1914, 15 October 1915, 13 November 1916, 9 April 1917, 7 November 1917 and 7 April 1918. Our research has unearthed an original recommendation for one of his 'Mentions' - that which appeared in the London Gazette of 13 November 1916: '8 October 1916: Has shown great energy and ability in command of the Corps Wing from April to October 1916. He has extensive knowledge of Artillery co-operation and has superintended the work of his squadrons admirably. His work has been very valuable.' On 19 January 1918, Shepard decided to visit the aerodrome at Auchel, where three of his squadrons were stationed. His Nieuport Scout, `B3610', for no obvious reason, spun into the ground. Barely alive, he was lifted from the wreckage and taken to hospital, where he died within hours - the highest ranking officer of the flying services to be killed in a Theatre of War during the Great War. Brigadier Gordon Shephard is buried in Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, France. Age 32. A biography written by Shane Leslie,'The Memoirs of Gordon Shephard', and edited by Shane Leslie, was privately published in 1924 ----------- India Office Records Catalogue Ref. IOR Creator(s): Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, 1784-1858 Burma Office, 1937-1948 East India Company, 1600-1858 India Office, 1858-1947 India Office Records: Public & Judicial Department [Access Conditions] Open Public and Judicial Departmental Papers: Annual Files - ref. IOR/L/PJ/6 FILE - Judicial and Public Annual Files 1171-1248 - ref. IOR/L/PJ/6/257 - date: 1889 item: Warrant for Letters Patent appointing Hale Horatio Shephard, Judge of the High Court of Judicature, Madras - ref. IOR/L/PJ/6/257, File 1172 - date: 8 Jul 1889 ------------- "late of 58 Montagu Sq" Entries in Dictionary of Indian Biography. By C.E. Buckland. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1906. Who Was Who in British India. By John F. Riddick. Westport, CT:Greenwood Press, 1998.
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| Born: Kensington, London, , , England 1842 | Baptised:
| | Died: Biarritz, , , 19th Apr 1921 | Buried:
| | Family: Shephard |
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