SHEPHARD, JOSEPH (1822-98) was born in England and brought up to the law. He was town clerk of Newcastle-on-Tyne and was engaged in parliamentary bill work in that city when he decided to come to New Zealand. Arriving by the Donna Lita (1861), he settled in Nelson, purchasing a farm at Fern Hill, on the upper Wai-iti river. As a member of the Provincial Council for Waimea South (1869-75), he strongly advocated the improvement of communication with the West Coast goldfields and presided over the parliamentary committee which recommended that the work be entrusted to a public company. He took a keen interest in education, being a member of the education board and board of examiners, a school commissioner and a governor of Nelson College (1885). In 1870-72 and 1874 he was provincial treasurer.

Shephard contested a parliamentary seat unsuccessfully in the sixties. In 1871 he was returned for Waimea, which he represented 1871-7 and 1879-85. On retiring he was called to the Legislative Council, of which he was a member until his death (on 25 Oct 1898). Shephard was a good writer with a fine grasp of colonial affairs. He edited The Colonist for some years.

Parltry Record; Nelson P.C. Proc.; The Colonist, 26 Oct 1898. Portrait: Parliament House.

Reference: Volume 2, page 151

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