Henry Shepherd (Curator 1836 – 1858)
Mr Henry Shepherd was born in Fulford, York in 1784 and succeeded John Shepherd after holding the position of Sub-Curator under him for many years, having joined the garden staff on 4th February 1808, aged 24.
Over the years there have been many suggestions on his family relationship to John. After much research Eric Greenwood et al have concluded that they were second cousins once removed!
He was clearly a very good botanist in his own right and made a name for himself for growing ferns from their spores. Indeed, Kew acknowledges that he was the first to do so. He also prepared the dissections that Roscoe needed for his book on the Monandrian plants of the Scitamineae family.
Sir James E. Smith, President of the Linnaean society, gave a lecture to a meeting of the Horticultural Society on 2nd March 1819 entitled “Directions for raising ferns from seed as practiced by Mr Henry Sheppard of Liverpool”.
Smith also commented that Henry had obtained two plants of a very rare fern by using seeds brushed from a specimen in the herbarium, originally from Dr John Reinhold Forster’s collection, now belonging to the botanic garden and perhaps 50 years old! Henry gave Smith around 60 pots of different ferns that he had raised from seed.
Orbituary
Henry was elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London in 1827 as he was “well acquainted with botany and cannot be too highly spoken of for his vanity of manners and kindness in imparting information to all who desire it.”
When the famous “Gardeners’ Chronicle” was created in April 1841, Henry is among the listed Professors, Dukes, Lords and Earls who have promised to contribute!
Henry Shepherd died on 14 January 1858 at the Botanic Garden Lodge, in his 74th year. His obituary in the Liverpool Mercury stated “Mr Henry Sheppard was assistant to his uncle [sic] from an early period of the formation of the Gardens and had been connected with them for nearly half a century, having on the death of Mr John Shepherd (more than 20-years ago) become Curator and filled the office up to the period of his death. He was mostly known in connection with the Gardens as a first-class botanist. Not having the varied qualities of his predecessor, his pursuits were, as his life, unostentatious and without show. He will be remembered by many of the visitors as a kind and obliging gentleman, and his loss will be felt by the Corporation, who had in him a diligent and faithful servant, and society one of her good and useful men.”