Rifleman Richard Wingrave Shepherd
| Date of Birth | 26/07/1899 |
|---|---|
| Age at Death | 18 |
| Date of Death | 26/06/1918 |
| Service Number | 50148 |
| Military Service | Royal Irish Rifles 12th Battalion |
| Merton Address | |
| Local Memorial | Streatham Park Cemetery |
Additional Information
Richard was born in Derby on 26 July 1899, the youngest of nine children of Richard and Ellen (nee McDonald). His father was a metal planer.
The 1911 census entry is a little unusual. It shows two little girls, Mary and Lily Barker, aged 5 and 2, but also names Richard Snr, his eldest daughter Mary Shepherd, a cook housekeeper, and young Richard as “visitors” at Ferncliff Cottage, Cross Copp, Morecombe. The census entry list 3 females and 2 males in a 4 room residence but does not show a head of the household.
Richard Jnr joined up and wrote an “informal will” on 7 April 1918, leaving everything to his sister Mrs M Barker (Mary).
He died in Southern General Hospital, Southmead, Bristol on 26 June 1918. A post mortem revealed that the cause of death was “choking due to presence of food in the air passage caused by a congenital malformation of the epiglottis”.
He is commemorated on the foot of the War Memorial in Streatham Park Cemetery.