Hugh Richard Lawrie Sheppard (2 September 1880 – 31 October 1937) was an English Anglican priest,

Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Deans had also existed before this time; its immediate precur ...

and

Christian pacifist Christian pacifism is the theological and ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith. Chri ...

Early life and education

Sheppard was the younger son of Edgar Sheppard, a

minor canon A minor canon is a member of staff on the establishment of a cathedral or a collegiate church. In at least one foundation the post may be known as "priest-vicar". Minor canons are clergy and take part in the daily services but are not part of t ...

at the

Royal Chapel of All Saints The Royal Chapel of All Saints or Queen Victoria's Chapel is a Grade II listed church in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, England and is a Royal Peculiar, serving as an informal parish church for the inhabitants an ...

in Windsor, and Mary White. Born at the Cloisters in Windsor, he was educated at Marlborough College and then (1901–1904)

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. He worked with the poor from Oxford House,

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By ...

and then for a year as secretary to

Cosmo Lang William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth, (31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was a Scottish Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York (1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942). His elevation to Archbishop ...

, then

Bishop of Stepney The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of T ...

. He volunteered to serve in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

: however, an injury sustained while en route to the railway station rendered him permanently disabled and unable to serve.

Career

He studied for the ministry at

Cuddesdon College Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England. The College trains men and women for ministry in the Church of England: stipendiary, non-stipendiary, local ordained and lay min ...

and was ordained priest in 1908. Returning to work with the poor at Oxford House, in 1910 he suffered the first of what would prove to be recurrent breakdowns due to overwork. With the onset of

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, Sheppard spent some months as chaplain to a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned and operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a ...

in France, before being sent home with exhaustion. He had joined the chaplaincy soon after war was declared. Bishop Gwynne, who became deputy chaplain-general on the Western Front, wrote of Sheppard, 'He is a man of real magnetic power and has left his living of St Martin's-in-the-Fields to come out with the Australian hospital'. Sheppard wrote to Lang of his experiences, "I've sat in a dugout expecting the Germans at any moment all through one night. I've held a leg and several other limbs while the surgeon amputated them. I've fought a drunken Tommy and protected several German prisoners from a French mob. I've missed a thousand opportunities and lived through a life's experience in five weeks." Sheppard had a breakdown which resulted from this experience, and these few weeks in France affected his view of warfare. Supported by Lang, he returned to the fashionable and high-profile living at

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

, turning the church into an accessible social centre for all those in need. He married Alison Lennox, who had nursed him during his breakdowns, in 1915. From 1924, when Sheppard provided the first service ever broadcast by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

After resignation

Maude Royden Agnes Maude Royden (23 November 1876 – 30 July 1956), later known as Maude Royden-Shaw, was an English preacher, suffragist and campaigner for the ordination of women. Early life and education Royden was born in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, the y ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

Peace Pledge Union The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) is a non-governmental organisation that promotes pacifism, based in the United Kingdom. Its members are signatories to the following pledge: "War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determin ...

Rector of Glasgow University The (Lord) Rector of the University of Glasgow is one of the most senior posts within the institution, elected every three years by students. The theoretical role of the rector is to represent students to the senior management of the university ...

Death and legacy

Paternoster Row Paternoster Row was a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with booksellers operating from the street. Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area cal ...

and his funeral in St Paul's Cathedral drew huge crowds. He is buried in the cloisters at Canterbury Cathedral. The character of the priest Robert Carbury in

Vera Brittain Vera Mary Brittain (29 December 1893 – 29 March 1970) was an English Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse, writer, feminist, socialist and pacifist. Her best-selling 1933 memoir '' Testament of Youth'' recounted her experiences during the Fir ...

's novel ''Born 1925'' is based on Sheppard. There is a memorial chapel named after Sheppard at St Martin-in-the Fields. The former office of the Peace Pledge Union was called Dick Sheppard House. An altar cross and candlesticks were presented as a memorial in Sheppard's name to

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral stands, with Viscount Bennett, ...

in 1957 by his friends and family.

Publications

* ''The Human Parson'' (1925) * ''My Hopes and Fears for the Church'' (1930) * ''The Impatience of a Parson'' (1930) * ''The Psalms for modern life'' (1933; illustrated by Arthur Wragg) * ''Two days before : simple thoughts about Our Lord on the cross'' (1935) * ''We say "No" : the plain man's guide to pacificism'' (1935) * "Introduction" to ''We Did Not Fight : 1914–18 experiences of war resisters'' by

Julian Bell Julian Heward Bell (4 February 1908 – 18 July 1937) was an English poet, and the son of Clive and Vanessa Bell (who was the elder sister of Virginia Woolf). The writer Quentin Bell was his younger brother and the writer and painter Angelica ...

(1935) * ''H. R. L. Sheppard : A Note in Appreciation'' (1937) * ''Sheppard's Pie'' (1937) * ''The Root of the Matter'' (1937) * ''The Christian attitude to war : St. Mary Woolnoth, 26 February 1937'' (1937) * ''Let Us Honour Peace'' (1937; with

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel '' The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiritu ...

, J. D. Beresford,

Gerald Heard Henry FitzGerald Heard (6 October 1889 – 14 August 1971), commonly called Gerald Heard, was a British-born American historian, science writer, public lecturer, educator, and philosopher. He wrote many articles and over 35 books. Heard was a g ...

, Captain Philip S. Mumford, L.B. Pekin, Canon C.E. Raven, E. Graham Howe,Elizabeth Thorneycroft, and R.H. Ward). * ''More Sheppard's Pie'' (1938) * ''Peace : A challenge to the Church'' (1973)

References

*''Dick Sheppard by his friends'' (1938) *R. E. Roberts, ''H. R. L. Sheppard'' (1942) · *C. S. Matthews, ''Dick Sheppard: man of peace'' (1948) *C. Scott, ''Dick Sheppard'' (1977) · · *A. Wilkinson, ''Dissent or conform? War, peace and the English churches, 1900–1945'' (1986) *A. Hastings, ''A history of English Christianity, 1920–1990'', 3rd edn (1991)

External links

A brief history of the PPU

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, Dick Deans of Canterbury 1880 births 1937 deaths People from Windsor, Berkshire English pacifists Anglican pacifists English Christian pacifists Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Rectors of the University of Glasgow Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour