Francis John Shepherd was born in Como, Quebec, and took his medical degree from McGill University in 1873. After further studies in Britain and in Europe, he returned to McGill in 1875 as Demonstrator in Anatomy. In 1879, he joined the staff of the Montreal General Hospital. Shepherd also served as Professor of Dermatology from 1908 to 1913, and as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1908 to 1914. He retired as Emeritus Dean and Professor in 1919. He studied with William Osler who became a lifelong friend. He had three children: a son Ernest who died during WW1 and two daughters, Dorothy and Cecil. Cecil married the architect Percy E. Nobbs.
Published
Title based on contents of the fonds.
Fonds consists of a scrapbook of clippings of Shepherd’s articles, reviews, editorials and letters to the editor of medical journals (1869-1929), clipped obituaries from the British Medical Journal and a fragmentary autobiography to 1875. Biographical or autobiographical notes and a report on a visit to European medical schools in 1887 were probably compiled by Shepherd (ca 1920-1924) as they are written on the backs of his incoming personal letters.
McGill University’s Osler Library also has a fonds (P024) pertaining to Shepherd. It contains originals and typescripts that include addresses (1905-1912), an admission card (1872), and originals and typescripts of “Anatomical reminiscences” (ca 1919), “First medical school in Canada” (1924) and “Notes on materia medica, Medical Faculty, McGill College” (1869).