William Shepherd

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameWilliam Henry•Shepherd
Used nameWilliam•Shepherd
Born8 November 1881 in Great Malvern, England (GBR)
AffiliationsOlympic Amateur Wrestling Club, Walworth (GBR)
NOC Great Britain

Biography

William Henry Shepherd born in late 1881 at Worcestershire, the son of a plasterer. He was an active figure in the amateur wrestling scene of London by the early 1900s as a member of the Olympic Amateur Wrestling Club in Walworth; the highlight of his career would come in 1908 when he represented his country at the 1908 London Olympics. Competing in the lightweight class of the freestyle event, he lost to eventual gold medallist George de Relwyskow in the quarter-final, after receiving a bye in the first round.

In the 1900s and 1910s, Shepherd worked in the furnishing business along with his wife, the former Mary Emma Chiles (née Parsons), whom he married in April 1908. By 1921 he took up a job as a hall porter at White’s gentleman’s club in St. James, London and lived in Paddington, Westminster for about the next 20 years, before moving to Essex in the late 1930s. There, he found work as a marine underwriter, and was still working into his late sixties.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1908 Summer Olympics Wrestling GBR William Shepherd
Lightweight, Freestyle, Men (Olympic) =5