Ben Sheppard was the son of Benjamin Sheppard (1876 - 1910) sculptor and artist and, Elsie Morrisby (1870-1950), musician and daughter of Tasman and Rosetta Morrisby of Ravensdale, Glenorchy. Benjamin and Elsie were married in 1901 and Benjamin Alleyne (Ben) was born in 1902. As a child, Ben was known as John.;;Benjamin Sheppard trained at the Royal Academy of Arts in London before moving to Tasmania to join his sister Mary and her husband Arthur W. L. Southern. Sheppard taught at the Hobart Technical School and worked on many private commissions. He was well remembered for his Boer War sculpture on the Hobart Domain. Elsie was a pianist who gave public recitals, taught piano and led her own small orchestra.;;Ben Sheppard was best known as a photographer in Hobart. He worked for the Tasmanian Mail and Mercury newspapers and as a private portrait photographer from his home (34 Grosvenor Street Sandy Bay and later 465 Sandy Bay Road). He also accepted photographic commissions from businesses. In his youth, he was know for riding his motorbike with side-car to photograph various news stories.;;His immediate family comprised his wife, Kathleen Costello, and daughter Jill.;;