Reverend Dick Sheppard 
Biography of Reverend Dick Sheppard
Hugh Richard Lawrie (Dick) Sheppard (1880-1937) was elected Rector of the University in 1937 but died shortly afterwards.
Sheppard was born in Windsor and studied at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was ordained a priest and became a popular preacher, campaigning to make the Church of England more responsive to the needs of ordinary people. He became a pacifist in the late 1920s and formed the Peace Pledge Union in 1936.
The unsuccessful candidates in the 1937 election were Emeritus Professor W Macneile Dixon; the Conservative politician and future Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and the Communist JBS Haldane. Sheppard was the first clergyman to be elected Rector since 1686. Sadly, he died just eight days after his election.
Summary
Reverend Dick Sheppard
Pacifist
Born 2 September 1880, Windsor, England.
Died 31 October 1937.
University Link: Rector
Occupation categories: clergy
NNAF Reference: GB/NNAF/P129466
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Record last updated: 5th Feb 2008
Country Associations
England
Place of Birth