Richard David Shepherd

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

FGRA The Guild of Railway Artists (GRA) is a British-based art guild whose members are painters of railway subjects. Membership can be applied for by submitting examples of one's work. "Friends" of the Guild are supporters of the guild who are not n ...

(25 April 1931 – 19 September 2017) was a British artist and one of the world's most outspoken

conservationists The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the ...

. He was most famous for his paintings of

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

(he owned a number of them) and

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

, although he also often painted aircraft, portraits (notably

The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was also ...

) and landscapes. His work has been extremely popular since the 1960s in

limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

print reproduction and

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

form, as well as other media such as

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English China (material), fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons L ...

limited edition plates. He published five books about his art, including an autobiography.

Life and work

David Shepherd was born in

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the London Borough of Barnet, northwest London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient Manorialism, manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has ...

, London, England. As a child he lived in

Totteridge Totteridge is a residential area and former village in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a mixture of suburban development and open land (including some farmland) situated 8 miles (13 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It ...

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

and he won a children's painting competition in a magazine called ''Nursery World'' when he was eight years old. He then attended

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

in Buckinghamshire. Upon leaving school he travelled to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

with the hope of becoming a

game warden A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician/technologist, game warden, park ranger, forest watcher, forest guar ...

, but was rejected as having "no talent whatsoever". He returned to the UK but was rejected by the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London. However, he was taken in by the artist

Robin Goodwin Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), includ ...

who trained him for three years. Neal Brown said in ''

Frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

'' magazine: "David Shepherd is one of the most financially rewarded painters in the UK... Shepherd has brought pleasure to millions, as seen on the many table mats, posters and commemorative plates that bear his work."

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 T ...

said, "There is a sense of the atmosphere of the African bush that emanates from all his work."

Conservationist

Shepherd became interested in conservation during an early expedition into the African bush, where he discovered a poisoned water hole with 255 dead

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), the plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. ...

. He had become an outspoken world-known campaigner, and devoted much of his time to this. He was also a steam railway enthusiast, but said in a letter to the UK's ''

The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly United Kingdom, British railway magazine, aimed at the Railfan, railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the ...

'', "you can always build another steam loco but you can't build another tiger." In addition to making him wealthy, Shepherd's paintings raised large sums for charity through auctions. His first big fund-raising success was a work titled ''Tiger Fire'' which raised £127,000 for

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

’s Operation Tiger in 1973. Shepherd was also known for his paintings of elephants and among his most well known works were ''The Ivory is Theirs'' and ''Wise Old Elephant''. He was the founder of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 1980

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

list "for services to the conservation of wildlife." He was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2008

Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are ...

list for services to charity and wildlife conservation.

Steam enthusiast

Shepherd owned a number of

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s. He bought both 9F ''Black Prince'' 92203 and Class 4MT No.75029 ''The Green Knight'' direct from

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

, where he had connections from painting various scenes for them. No.75029 ''The Green Knight'' was sold to the

North Yorkshire Moors Railway The North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, that runs through the North York Moors National Park. First opened in 1836 as the Whitby and Pickering Railway, the railway was planned in 1831 by Ge ...

to finance ''Black Prince''s overhaul, then in 2015 ''Black Prince'' was sold to the

North Norfolk Railway The North Norfolk Railway (NNR) – also known as the "Poppy Line" – is a heritage railway, heritage steam railway in Norfolk, England, running between the towns of Sheringham and Holt, Norfolk, Holt. The North Norfolk Railway is owned ...

. All the African locomotives he acquired were British-built. In South Africa the 15F (Nº 3052), presented to him by

Spoornet Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

in 1991, is stored at

Sandstone Estates Sandstone Estates (Pty) Ltd is a large commercial agricultural enterprise covering over , located on the border with Lesotho in South Africa's Eastern Free State province, close to the Maluti Mountains. The nearest town is Ficksburg, away on the ...

Ficksburg Ficksburg is a town situated at the foot of the 1,750 meter high Imperani Mountain in Free State province, South Africa. The town was founded by General Johan Fick in 1867 who won the territory in the Basotho Wars. He laid out many erven and ...

. It has carried various names, including ''City of Germiston'' and, more recently, his wife's name, ''Avril''. It was moved to Ficksburg in light steam from

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

by Friends of the Rail (a

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

-based heritage steam association) in April 2003 and it steamed again in April 2006, when Friends of the Rail operated it for several trips between

and Kommandonek with Shepherd on board. He also owned two Zambian locomotives from the

Mulobezi Railway The Mulobezi Railway (once known as the Zambezi Sawmills Railway) was constructed to carry timber from Mulobezi to Livingstone, Zambia, Livingstone in the Southern Province, Zambia, Southern Province of Zambia, when the country was Northern Rhod ...

, given to him by then President

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first president of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from Northern Rhodesia, British ...

. One is still in the railway museum in

Livingstone, Zambia Livingstone is a city in Southern Province, Zambia, Southern Province, Zambia. Lying 10 km (6 mi) to the north of the Zambezi River, it is a tourism, tourist attraction due to its proximity to the Victoria Falls and its road and rail conn ...

, the other was located on the

complex in South Africa. Shepherd donated it, along with a coach, to the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

in the UK, where it is undergoing restoration. Shepherd was involved in founding a heritage steam railway in the UK, the

East Somerset Railway The East Somerset Railway is a heritage railway in Somerset, running between Cranmore railway station, Cranmore and Mendip Vale railway station, Mendip Vale. The railway was once part of the former Cheddar Valley line that ran from Witham (S ...

, where the signal box at Cranmore Station has become a small gallery displaying his work. He was also president of the "Railway Ramblers".

Personal life and death

Shepherd's parents gave him a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

cottage, with more than of land, in

Frensham Frensham is a village in Surrey, England, next to the A287 road, WSW of Guildford, the county town. Frensham lies on the right bank of the River Wey (south branch), only navigable to canoes, shortly before its convergence with the north bra ...

, Surrey, next to their own house, to encourage him to get engaged to his future wife Avril. The couple had four daughters and lived in

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. Their daughter Mandy is also a wildlife and military artist. Shepherd died on 19 September 2017 from the effects of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. Karen Botha, the CEO of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF), said; "David’s passion for wildlife and the role of man in its demise infuriated and inspired him. He was dedicated, tenacious and outspoken, a champion of animals and the people who worked to protect them. He will be greatly missed." Julian Birley, chairman of the

, said: "It is the end of an era. A great man who will forever be credited as one of this country’s greatest pioneers of railway preservation. And in so doing brought pleasure to hundreds of thousands of people."

References

External links