SHEPPARD, David Stuart 1929–2005

(Baron of West Kirby)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born March 6, 1929, in Reigate, Surrey, England; died of cancer March 5, 2005, in West Kirby, Merseyside, England. Bishop, cricket player, and author. A former bishop of Woolwich who was known for his efforts to alleviate racial tensions between blacks and whites in England, Sheppard was also an accomplished cricket player who captained the England team in 1954. Graduating in 1953 from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he earned a master's degree at Ridley Hall in 1955. Ordained a minister in the Church of England that year, his first two years with the church were spent as a curate in Islington. As warden of the Mayflower Family Centre in Canning Town from 1957 to 1969, Sheppard worked closely with poverty-stricken families of many races. Concerned about strained racial relationships between blacks and the government and Anglican church, he strove to address such problems as poor housing and unemployment while chair of the central religious advisory committee, the Liverpool Manpower Services Commission, and the General Synod's Board for Social Responsibility. He also was a key player in writing the 1985 report "Faith in the City: A Call for Action by Church and Nation," which helped quell negative public opinion about blacks after the riots of that year. In addition to his church work, Sheppard, who was named bishop of Woolwich in 1969 and bishop of Liverpool in 1975, was a gifted cricket player. He played for Sussex from 1947 to 1962, and for England from 1950 to 1963, serving as captain of the Sussex team in 1953 and of the England team in 1954. He was also an author of several books, including Parson's Pitch (1964; later published as Built as a City: God and the Urban World Today, 1974), Bias to the Poor (1983), The Other Britain (1984), and three books with Archbishop Derek Worlock: Better Together: Christian Partnership in a Hurt City (1988), With Christ in the Wilderness, and With Hope in Our Hearts (1994). Named a life peer in 1998, Sheppard's autobiography, Steps along Hope Street: My Life in Cricket, the Church, and the Inner City, was published in 2002.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Sheppard, David Stuart, Steps along Hope Street: My Life in Cricket, the Church, and the Inner City, Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 2002.

PERIODICALS

Daily Post (Liverpool, England), March 7, 2005, p. 6.

Independent (London, England), March 7, 2005, p. 34.

Times (London, England), March 7, 2005, p. 49.