National Union of Operative Boot and Shoe Riveters and Finishers. By 1884, he became the union's Bristol representative, and in 1893, he was elected as president of Bristol Trades Council.[1]
Sheppard stood down from his trade union posts in 1913 and 1914, became the first Labour
Lord Mayor of Bristol in 1917, and then spent much of his time as secretary of the Shirehampton Housing Utility Company, which constructed cheap but high-quality housing for workers. He was selected to stand as a Coalition Labour candidate in Bristol Central at the 1918 general election, but Ernest Bevin led a campaign to remove him, as Labour's official policy was not to participate in the coalition, and Bevin instead stood.[1]
Sheppard was awarded the
CBE in the 1930 New Year Honours. He remained a Labour Party councillor and reconciled with Bevin; despite his earlier support for a coalition, he did not join the National Labour Organisation split. He served on the tribunal for conscientious objectors during World War II and remained politically active until shortly before his death, aged 93.[1]
References
^ abcdBob Whitfield, Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.III, pp.160-162