 1817 - 1890
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| Born |
29 Sep 1817 |
Tower Hamlets, London  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
24 Sep 1890 |
71 Nelson street, Whitechapel, London |
| Person ID |
I406 |
My Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
5 Sep 2013 |
| Family |
Read Frances Hall, b. 13 Oct 1826, Sudbury, Suffolk , d. 1882, Lambeth |
| Married |
1845 |
| Children |
| > | 1. Sheppard Emma Jane, b. 1854, Stepney, London , d. 1906, Marrickville, New South Wales |
| | 2. Sheppard Frederick, b. 1847 |
| | 3. Sheppard James A, b. 1848 |
| | 4. Sheppard Edward, b. 1856 |
| | 5. Sheppard Louisa M, b. 1858, Stepney |
| | 6. Sheppard Mary A B, b. 1860, Stepney |
| | 7. Sheppard George, b. 1862, Stepney |
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| Last Modified |
11 Dec 2012 |
| Family ID |
F155 |
Group Sheet |
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| Notes |
- Frederick, born to a father who was a musician, was a proper East Ender - he was born, worked and died in the small clutch of streets around Whitechapel and Stepney. This being the heart of the rag trade, it's no surprise that he became a Tailor. He married a farm girl from Suffolk, and they had 6 children.
By the end of his life he was a Master Tailor, and left £1322 in his will, a not inconsiderable sum gained through hard graft, no doubt.
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A brief look at tailoring in 19th century London from a social report written in 1850:
"The Tailors, as a body, form a very large proportion of the population of London. Arranging the occupations of the people of the metropolis in the order of the number of individuals belonging to them, we shall find that the tailors stand fourth upon the list. First come the Domestic Servants of London, numbering as many as 168,000 individuals...The second in the order of their numbers are the Labourers, who are 50,000 strong. Third in numerical rank stand the Boot and Shoe Makers, mustering upwards of 28,000; and fourth, the Tailors, amounting to 23,517...
...Of the above 23,517 tailors, there are, according to the Post-office Directory, 2,748 in business for themselves. This leaves a total of 20,769 operatives. But several of those whose names are entered in the Directory are also, I am told, working men; that is to say, they act as journeymen as well as work upon their own account. We may therefore fairly estimate the number of operative tailors in the metropolis at not less than 21,000 individuals.
...Adopting the same means to arrive at an estimate of the moral character of a particular class of persons, I find that at the time of taking the last census there was one in every 340 tailors confined in gaol; whereas, in the class of knitters (the most criminal of all), one in every five individuals was an inmate of a prison...
The tailoring trade is divided by the workmen into "honourable" and "dishonourable." The honourable trade consists of that class who have the garments made on their own premises, at the supposed rate of 6d. per hour; the dishonourable, of those who give the work out to "sweaters," to be done at less than the standard price. The dishonourable part of the trade is again subdivided into the classes belonging to show-shops - that is, such as do a cheap bespoke business - and those belonging to slop-shops, or, in plainer terms, to such as do a cheap ready-made business.
Of the 21,000 working tailors above specified, as resident in London, I should add that there are not above 3,000 belonging to what is called the honourable portion of the trade. The remaining 18,000 are those who are engaged in the cheap, slop, or dishonourable trade...
The journeymen tailors working for the "honourable" part of the trade are in "union." This "union" consists of six distinct societies, which meet at certain taverns or public-houses at the west end of the town. The number of journeymen at present in union is 3,000. In the year 1821 there were between 5,000 and 6,000. It is supposed that from two to three thousand have left the "honourable" trade and become "sweaters."
The different societies are likewise used as houses of call for the masters. The men belonging to a particular society, who are out of employ, attend the house at the appointed call-times (there are three in the day). A master requiring extra hands directs the captain of the workshop to engage the requisite number. He generally sends to the society of which he is a member, and there the workmen who stand next upon the books are taken on.
source: 'Victorian London - Publications - Social Investigation/Journalism - The Morning Chronicle : Labour and the Poor, 1849-50; Henry Mayhew - Letter XVI'
http://www.victorianlondon.org/index-2012.htm
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London Tailors in 1897
Based on analysis of London trades in 1897, there were 8274 heads of families who were Tailors, by far the largest trade in the whole city. The next trade down numerically was General Lanourers as heads of households - 3958, followed by Lodging and coffee-house keepers 3349. So London had a lot of tailors.
St-George's-in-the-East and Whitechapel in East London had by far the highest concentration of tailors (nearly double the other area which was the Strand / St Giles / Soho) with just over 14% of the total heads of families registered as Tailors.
"...Few trades, probably, have had a darker history than the tailoring trades of London, and it may be questioned whether any have resisted more successfully the spirit of reform...The tailoring trade, to begin with, is sadly deficient (so far at least as the workers are concerned) in effective organization. This fact, in itself, is not surprising. The conditions of the trade are altogether unfavourable to organization. Work is extremely precarious and restricted - in the West especially - to ruinously short seasons; while the advent of the Jews has seriously aggravated the evils of competition. But whatever the explanation, the fact of dis-organization remains. Out of 52,346 persons engaged in the tailoring trade in London (representing 18,253 males over 20 years of age) only 3,551 are members of Trade Societies...
...It must be remembered, moreover, that the tailoring trade is one of the few industries that have survived (to any considerable extent) the modern change-or revolution- in our industrial system: i.e., from domestic workshop to factory. The trade, it is true, has not been altogether unaffected by the modern spirit: clothing factories have sprung up here and there (e.g., in East London, and in several provincial towns), but these are restricted to "slop" or "contract" work. So far as the ordinary trade is concerned the only appreciable change has been a steady and widespread development which has substituted the small master, or "middleman", for the private worker...
source: pp57-120 'Victorian London - Publications - Social Investigation/Journalism - Life in West London : A Study and a Contrast, by Arthur Sherwell, 1897 - Part 2 - Industrial'
http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications/westlondon-2.htm
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Birth Record 1817:
Frederick's birth record 1817 from Parish of St George, Middlesex. 29th Sept 1817, father Thomas Allen Sheppard, Mother Harriet. Parents lived at Fox's Lane, Shadwell.
Thomas Allen's profession is 'Musician'.
Marriage record 28th Oct 1845:
Frederick Adolphus Sheppard to Frances Hall Pead
Parish of St Leonared, Bromley, London
Frederick profession - Tailor
Fathers name - Thomas Allen Sheppard, professor of music
Frances' father name - James Read, Mill wright
1851 Census:
The Sheppard family live at No. 5 Philpot St, Stepney.
Fred Sheppard, 33, Tailor
Frances Sheppard, 26, born Wallingford, Essex
Fred Sheppard, 5
James Sheppard 3
Frances Sheppard 1
Elizabeth Young, 18
1861 Census:
Mile End Old Town.
Frederick Sheppard is head of the household aged 43, a Master Tailor.
Frances his wife is aged 35 and was born in Essex.
Frederick A Sheppard is a son aged 14, and is an Agent's Clerk.
James A Shepherd, a son, is aged 13, and is a scholar, as is his siters Emma J Sheppard aged 7.
Theres another son aged 5 called Edward, a daughter called Louisa M aged 3, and the youngest is Mary A Ab aged 1.
they also have a house servant living with them.
the family live at N0 5 hulpol (?) st.
1871 Census:
Family live at No.9 Philpot st.
Frederick Sheppard is a Tailor Master, aged 53
His wife Frances is aged 46
Son Frederick is aged 24 and a Tailor
Son James is aged 22 and an Undertaker
Emma is aged 17, Louisa aged 13, and Mary A is aged 11, George aged 9.
they also have a niece with them called Emma Sheppard whose a Dressmaker, and a domestic servant
1881 Census:
The family live at 61 Nelson st, Mile end Old Town, Tower Hamlets
Frederick Sheppard is the head, aged 62, Master Tailor born in Stepney
Frances his wife is aged 56 and was born in Sudbury, Suffolk
Louisa, daughter is aged 23, unmarried, born Stepney
Marion B is aged 21, born Stepney
George S Sheppard, son, is aged 19
His profession is given as 'Master Tailor' on the marriage record for his daughter.
Record of death 1890:
Frederick Adolphus Sheppard, aged 73 from Mile End Town, London.
Probate 1890:
"20th Nov, The will of Frederick Adulphus Sheppard, late of 61 Nelson street, Commercial road in the County of Middlesex, who died 24th Sept 1890 at 61 Nelson st, was proved at the Principle Registry by James Alfred Sheppard, of 137 Kennington rd...Dentist, the son, one of the executors. Personal Estate £1,322"
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