The information I have is this: The earliest ancestor in the English Shephard family I am researching seems to be a Charles Shephard, who was a brewer, residing in Shoreditch / London, and who died in 1787. At the time of his death he was of St Bartholomew the Great in Smithfield. In the 1750s he and his wife Catherine baptised several children at St Paul's Covent Garden, and one of those was named Nathaniel Hebelthwhite Shephard. [Source: Parish registers of St Paul's Covent Garden, published by the Harleian Society]

A strong guess would be that the mother's maiden name was Hebelthwhite (or, Hebbelthwaite) - and I thought it was worth checking. If there was such a person as Catherine Hebelthwh(a)ite Shephard, it would give us another definite name for our Tree. We have a good line down from one of her other sons, to the present day.

Thank you very much, if you can assist me.