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

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest,

Dean of Canterbury The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter (religion), Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral, the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The current office of dean (religion), Dean originated after the English Reformation, although Dea ...

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. Ch ...

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 Clergy are formal leaders within established religi ...

at the

Royal Chapel of All Saints The Royal Chapel of All Saints, also known colloquially as ''Queen Victoria's Chapel'' is a Listed building#Categories of listed building, Grade II listed church in the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, England and is a ...

in Windsor, and Mary White. Born at the Cloisters in Windsor, he was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and then (1901–1904)

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. He worked with the poor from

Oxford House The term Oxford House refers to any house operating under the "Oxford House Model", a community-based approach to addiction recovery, which provides an independent, supportive, and sober living environment. Today there are nearly 3,000 Oxford Hous ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

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 Tow ...

. He volunteered to serve in the

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

: 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 (RCC) 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 l ...

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 armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, Sheppard spent some months as chaplain to a

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or 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 m ...

in France, before being sent home with exhaustion. He had joined the chaplaincy soon after war was declared.

Bishop Gwynne A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

, 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. Dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, there has been a church on the site since at least the medieval pe ...

, 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, his broadcast sermons gave him national fame. However, another breakdown and acute asthma led to his resignation in 1926. Having become a pacifist, he articulated a vision of a non-institutional church in ''The Impatience of a Parson'' (1927). Sheppard was partly responsible for the annual

Festival of Remembrance A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival constitutes ...

that takes place in the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, London on the first Saturday in November before

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

. In November 1925 he wrote to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' protesting against a proposed Charity Ball on Armistice Day. Following a nationwide response a solemn ceremony ''In Memory'' replaced the Ball. Such was its resonance with the public that it became an annual event that continues to this day. Lang, appointed

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

in 1928, supported the appointment of Sheppard as

in 1929. Although his preaching attracted huge audiences, illness once again forced resignation in 1931.

After resignation

Trying to develop a public political platform for pacifism, with Herbert Gray and

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 ...

, Sheppard proposed in 1931 a Peace Army of unarmed peacemakers to stand between the Chinese and Japanese armies in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. More successfully, he issued a call for "peace pledges" in 1934. He published ''We Say 'No' ''(1935) and formally established the

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 determine ...

in 1936. In 1937 – the year of his death aged 57 – his wife left him and students elected him

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

Sheppard died at home in

Paternoster Row Paternoster Row is 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 call ...

and his funeral in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

drew huge crowds. He is buried in the cloisters at

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

. 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 in Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow, Earl Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral ...

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 spiri ...

J. D. Beresford John Davys Beresford (17 March 1873 – 2 February 1947) was an English writer, now remembered mainly for his early science fiction and some short stories of the horror story and ghost story genres. Beresford was a great admirer of H. G. Well ...

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

, 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 Clergy 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 People educated at Marlborough College