Catalogue description From Frances Shepherd (née Nicholson) (1757-1829), cousin

Frances was the eldest daughter of Robert (1727-1779) and Arabella Nicholson. In 1792 she married William Shepherd (1768-1847), Unitarian minister, politician and writer. From 1791 until his death Shepherd was minister at the Gateacre Unitarian Chapel, he and his wife living at "The Nook", Gateacre. Shepherd started a successful boarding school "... his classical scholarship and capacity as a teacher and Mrs. Shepherd's motherly care of the boys combining to give the school a very high reputation amongst the wealthy nonconformists ...". Shepherd's other activities are fully described on pp. 110-129. See also D.N.B. op. cit., 1897, Vol. 52, pp. 57-58. According to Nicholson and Axon the Shepherd MSS. are at Manchester College, Oxford. See p. 68, also F. Nicholson and E. Axon The MSS. of William Shepherd at Manchester College, Oxford, in Transactions of the Unitarian Historic Society, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1922, pp. 119-130.

This letter gives family news and friendly gossip