Alfred Ernest Shepherd (6 January 1901 – 12 September 1958) was an Australian politician. He was an

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the states and territories of Australia, state lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the state upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament H ...

for the electorates of

Sunshine Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically per ...

(1945–1955),

Ascot Vale Ascot Vale is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley local government area. Ascot Vale recorded a population of 15,197 at the 2021 census ...

(1955–1958), and Footscray (1958). He was

Minister for Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

in the 1952-55

John Cain John Cain may refer to: * John Cain (34th Premier of Victoria) (1882–1957), Australian politician * John Cain (41st Premier of Victoria) (1931–2019), Australian politician, son of the above ** John Cain Arena, sports arena in Melbourne, Austral ...

government and was leader of the Labor Party and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

from 1957 until his death the following year.
''re-member'' (Victorian Parliament database).

Early life and career

Shepherd was born in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

, the son of Bendigo Trades Hall Council president Alfred Shepherd. He was educated at Violet Street State School, but left school at 14 to work for import firm Robert Harper & Co., continuing to study at night at the Bendigo School of Mines. He was a pattern-maker by trade, beginning as an apprentice at the Newport Railway Workshops at 17 and remaining there until his election to parliament in 1945, by which time he had risen to the role of sub-foreman. Shepherd was a

City of Footscray The City of Footscray was a local government area about west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of and existed from 1859 until 1994. Its civic centre, after which it was named, was Footscray. Hi ...

councillor from 1943 to 1955 and mayor from 1948 to 1949. He was also founding director of the Footscray District Housing Co-operative Society in 1945 and a municipal representative on the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital board from 1947 to 1956, serving as board chairman 1952-56. Shepherd was also a keen sportsman, particularly in

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

. He played football for the

Footscray Football Club The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

and

North Melbourne Football Club The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Kangaroos or colloquially the Roos, is a professional Australian rules football club. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AF ...

seconds, was an umpire in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

second division, and was secretary of the Footscray Football Club in 1930 and the Footscray District Football League from 1933 to 1945. In swimming, he was secretary of the Footscray Swimming Club from 1918 to 1930, and a judge and registrar of the Victorian Amateur Swimming Association. Shepherd was elected unopposed to the new seat of

at the 1945 election following his narrow victory in a hard-fought Labor preselection. When Labor won government under

in 1952, he was promoted to

, but the Cain government lost office in 1955 after only one term amidst the 1955 Labor split. His Sunshine electorate was abolished in a redistribution at the 1955 election, and he switched to the new seat of

. Shepherd was promoted to deputy leader after Labor's 1955 defeat, at which his predecessor had lost his seat. When Cain died in 1957, Shepherd was elected unopposed as Labor leader and Leader of the Opposition. He shifted to the existing seat of Footscray in 1958 after the Ascot Vale seat was abolished in a redistribution.

Death

Shepherd died in office in 1958. He had collapsed at the opening ceremony of a youth centre at

West Footscray West Footscray or "Wefo" is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Maribyrnong local government area. West Footscray recorded a population of 11,729 at ...

, and was rushed to nearby Footscray Hospital but was dead on arrival. He received a state funeral and was cremated.

Legacy

Ern Shepherd Reserve in

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

, and the Shepherd Bridge, which carries Footscray Road over the

Maribyrnong River The Maribyrnong River is a perennial river of the Port Phillip catchment, located in the northwestern suburbs of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Course The Maribyrnong River draws its headwaters from near Mount Macedon within ...

, are both named for him.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Ernie 1901 births 1958 deaths Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Victoria Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Politicians from Bendigo Leaders of the opposition in Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian politicians Ministers for education (Victoria)