Sir Samuel Shepherd KS PC

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(6 April 1760 – 3 November 1840) was a British barrister, judge and politician who served as

Attorney General for England His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is the chief legal adviser to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign and Government of the United Kingdom, Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales as well as the highest ...

and Lord Chief Baron of the Scottish Court of Exchequer.

Early life and career

Shepherd was born on 6 April 1760 to Henry Shepherd, a London jeweller. From 1773 to 1774 he was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and then at a different school in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

, entering the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in July 1776. After a

pupillage A pupillage, in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Hong Kong, is the final, vocational stage of training for those wishing to become practising barristers. Pupillage is similar to an apprenticeship, during which ba ...

under Charles Runnington he was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

on 23 November 1781. He soon joined the

home circuit Circuits are the highest-level administrative divisions of the Bar of England and Wales and His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service. Today, they serve as professional associations for barristers practicing within their areas, as well as admini ...

, a place where, along with the

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, he had great success. From 1790 onwards he gradually became deaf, rejecting the honour of being made a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1793 but accepting a promotion to Serjeant-at-Law in 1796, becoming a King's Serjeant the next year and, after the death of Serjeant Cockell, King's Ancient Serjeant. In 1812 he became Solicitor-General of the Duchy of Cornwall. He came to fame in 1810 in his defence of

Francis Burdett Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (25 January 1770 – 23 January 1844) was a British politician and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartism, Chartists) of univ ...

in his dispute with the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Political and judicial work

In December 1813, Shepherd was made

Solicitor General for England His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to adv ...

, and returned to Parliament for Dorchester on 11 April 1814. He received a knighthood from the Prince Regent on 11 May 1814, and became

in 1817. Shepherd was an excellent and popular lawyer, who would have become far more successful if it was not for his deafness; he refused the offices of both Lord Chief Justice of the

Court of King's Bench The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...

and

Chief Justice of the Common Pleas The chief justice of the common pleas was the head of the Court of Common Pleas, also known as the Common Bench, which was the second-highest common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body ...

, partly due to his deafness and partly because he refused to hold a judicial office that involved the trial of prisoners. In London his address was 38

Bloomsbury Square Bloomsbury Square is a garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London. Developed in the late 17th century, it was initially known as Southampton Square and was one of the earliest London squares. By the early 19th century, Be ...

. In June 1819 he accepted the position of Lord Chief Baron of the Scottish Court of Exchequer, becoming a member of the Privy Council on 23 July, and as Lord Chief Baron advised Scottish judges on the application of English treason law to the participants of the

Radical War The Radical War, also known as the Scottish Insurrection of 1820, was a week of strikes and unrest in Scotland, a culmination of Radical demands for reform in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which had become prominent in the ea ...

. He moved to Edinburgh living at Newington House. In 1820 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were Sir

William Adam of Blair Adam The Right Hon. William Adam of Blair Adam, (2 August 175117 February 1839) was a Scottish advocate, barrister, politician and judge. He served as Solicitor General for Scotland (1802–1805) and as Lord Chief Commissioner of the Jury Court ( ...

Henry Mackenzie Henry Mackenzie FRSE (August 1745 – 14 January 1831, born and died in Edinburgh) was a Scottish lawyer, novelist and writer sometimes seen as the Addison of the North. While remembered mostly as an author, his main income came from legal ro ...

and

Thomas Charles Hope Thomas Charles Hope (21 July 1766 – 13 June 1844) was a Scottish physician, chemist and lecturer. He proved the existence of the element strontium, and gave his name to Hope's Experiment, which shows that water reaches its maximum density at ...

. He served as the sciety's vice president from 1823 to 1830. In February 1830 Shepherd was forced to retire due to ill health. He became totally blind in 1837. He died in a cottage at

Streatley, Berkshire Streatley is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. The village faces Goring-on-Thames. The two places share in their shops, services, leisure, sports and much of their transport. Across ...

on 3 November 1840. Newington House stood on what is now Blacket Avenue and was demolished in 1966.Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker

Family

On 1 January 1783, Shepherd married Miss Elizabeth White (d. 1833), daughter of John White of Hicks Hall in St Sepulchre in outer London, sister of John White the Attorney General of Canada. Their son, Henry John Shepherd KC (d. 1866), was a legal author.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd, Samuel 1760 births 1840 deaths Attorneys general for England and Wales 19th-century English judges Knights Bachelor Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Dorchester People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Serjeants-at-law (England) Solicitors general for England and Wales UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 Barons of the Court of Exchequer (Scotland) English deaf people Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Deaf politicians British politicians with disabilities People from West Berkshire District Deaf lawyers British lawyers with disabilities