Horatio H. Shephard educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford.
In January 1888, he was appointed officiating judge of the Madras High Court and confirmed in July 1889.
He also officiated as the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court in 1898, before retiring in July 1901.
In April 1902 he was appointed a legal adviser and solicitor to the Secretary of State for India.
Their second son, Gordon Strachey Shephard, rose to the rank of brigadier-general, but was killed in World War I.