William Sheppard (died 1674) was an English barrister, known as a legal writer.

Life

Sheppard was baptised at

Whitminster __NOTOC__ Whitminster is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, and on the A38 road, A38 trunk road approximately south of Gloucester and north-west of Stroud. The parish population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 censu ...

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, at the end of 1595, and entered the

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in 1620; 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 ...

in 1629. He lived in Horsley and enjoyed a large country legal practice. About 1653 Sheppard was invited to London by

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

, and made one of the clerks of the upper bench. In 1656 he became a

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writ ...

, and was nominated with three others to prepare the charters granted to town corporations. In September 1659 he was appointed chief justice in North Wales, by the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

. After the

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of 1660 Sheppard was deprived of his offices and left public life. He had six children: John (a clergyman), Elizabeth, Sarah, Samuel, Anne, and Dorothy.

Works

Sheppard wrote legal and religious works: * '' The office and duties of Constables, or tythingmen … and other lay ministers. Whereunto are adjoined the several offices of church ministers and church wardens'', London, 1641; 4th ed. 1657. * '' The Court Keeper's Guide'', London, 1641; 7th ed. by William Brown, 1685. * '' A Catechism'', London, 1649. * ''

Four Last Things In Christian eschatology, the Four Last Things or four last things of man ( la , quattuor novissima) are Death, Judgment, Heaven, and Hell, the four last stages of the soul in life and the afterlife. They are often commended as a collective t ...

'', 1649. A theological work, its introduction expressed political support for the

, slanted against the Presbyterian faction. ''Of the Foure Last and Greatest Things'' (1658) was a collaboration with Thomas Barlow. * '' Guide to Justices of the Peace'', 1649; 5th ed. 1669. * '' The Faithful Counsellor'', London, 1651–4. An early encyclopedic work on English law, it was used in later compilations. * '' England's Balme'', London, 1651. A comprehensive plan for legal reconstruction. With

Sir Matthew Hale Sir Matthew Hale (1 November 1609 – 25 December 1676) was an influential English barrister, judge and jurist most noted for his treatise ''Historia Placitorum Coronæ'', or ''The History of the Pleas of the Crown''. Born to a barrister and ...

and John March, Sheppard wished to reform the

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...

from within. * '' The People's Privilege and Duty guarded against the Pulpit'', London, 1652. Sheppard has been identified as a follower of John Owen; and this expression of the

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

line on preaching may have recommended him to Cromwell. * '' Justice of the Peace his Clerk's Cabinet'', 1654. * '' The Parson's Guide or the Law of Tithes'', London, 1654; 2nd ed. 1670. * '' The Precedent of Precedents'', London, 1655; ed. by Thomas Walter Williams, 1825. * '' View of the Laws concerning Religion'', London, 1655. * '' Epitome of the Common and Statute Laws'', London, 1656. * '' Survey of the County Judicatories'', London, 1656. * '' Office of Country Justice of Peace'', London, 1655–6. * '' Concerning Sincerity and Hypocrisy'', Oxford, 1658. * '' Of Corporations, Fraternities, and Guilds'', London. * '' A New Survey of the Justice of the Peace his Office'', London, 1659. * '' Actions upon the Case for Slander'', 1662; 2nd ed. London, 1674. * '' Office of the Clerk of the Market'', London, 1665. * '' The Practical Counsellor in the Law'', London, 1671. * '' Actions upon the Case for Deeds'', 2nd ed. London, 1675; 3rd ed. 1680. * '' A Grand Abridgement of the Common and Statute Law of England'', London, 1675. He also published the '' Touchstone of Common Assurances'' (1641); tradition said he had found it in manuscript in Sir John Doddridge's library, but a connection with Doddridge is no longer accepted. The eighth edition of this work, by Edmond Gibson Atherley, was published in 1826. Sheppard wrote a second part, published with the first, '' Law of Common Assurances'' (1650). '' A Collection of Choice Declarations'' (1653), attributed to Sheppard in the first edition of the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', was by William Small.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard, William Year of birth missing 1674 deaths English barristers Serjeants-at-law (England) English legal writers 17th-century English judges People from Whitminster