Author: Shepherd, Mrs.
Biography:
SHEPHERD, Mrs. (fl 1807)
Her only known publication was advertised in the Stamford Mercury on 24 Apr. 1807 under a fuller title and with more information about distribution than appear in the copy examined: it announces not simply Poems printed in London for the author and sold there by J. Harris, but Poems on Various Occasions, sold also by “booksellers at Stamford, Lincoln, Boston, Newark, &c. &c.” The subscription list provides names but not usually addresses for the ladies (Mrs., Miss, Hon., Countess, Marchioness) and gentlemen (Mr., Esq., Rev., M.D., Mr. Justice, Earl, M.P.) on it. There are no Shepherds. The contents are as promised—occasional poems on matters primarily of domestic interest, such as “The Burnt Kitten, (addressed to Miss W.),” and with edifying or pious morals. Internal evidence points to a mature upper-middle-class woman native of or living in Lincolnshire. But there the trail goes cold. She might be one of the two locally recognised Mrs. Shepherds, both widows, whose deaths were reported in the Stamford Mercury in 1823 although they had taken place in other counties. The first was Naomi (Coltman) Shepherd (1749-1823), born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, who had married Henry Shepherd (1740-1809), also of Horncastle, in 1776; he was a clergyman, rector of Brandesburton, Yorkshire, from 1776 until his death. They had five children and she died at Beverley, Yorkshire, on 22 Jan. 1823. The second, “advanced in years,” died at Croxton near Belvoir, Leicestershire, on 28 July; she was the mother of “Mr. Shepherd, of Melton.” But confirmation is lacking in either case. (ancestry.com 20 Oct. 2024; findmypast.com 20 Oct. 2024; CCEd 20 Oct. 2024; Stamford Mercury 24 Apr. 1807, 31 Jan. 1823, 8 Aug. 1823) HJ