The First Recorded Shepherdson

The earliest recorded Shepherdson in British Malaya dates back to a John Shepherdson who was born in 1800 and died in 1856. He lived in Malacca during the British occupation of Malaya. He is believed to be a court bailey. Very little is known about him except that he married Johanna Pestanna. His children John Jr, Eliza and Mathew were baptized in St Francis Xavier Church. Maria, one of this daughers died at birth in 1848.

Shepherdsons & Pestanna

There seems to be very close relationships between the Shepherdsons and the Pestannas during that period. John son's John Jr, married Joanna Pestanna on 26 Sep, 1861. It is not known how she is related to her mother-in-law who is also a Pestanna. Another Shepherdson, Juliana married Anthony Pestana. No information is available on how these Pestanas were related to one another. We assume that Julianna was the sister of John Shepherdson being of the same generation as John and the fact that no other Shepherdson was documented in the church's records during this early period. Interestingly, both John and Juliana had children who tragically died at birth in 1848. Juliana's daughter who died at birth was named Joakina Pestana.

Shepherdsons & the British

If John and Juliana are the earliest Shepherdsons recorded, it implies that their parents were probably immigrants from Britain. According to history, the British came to Malay Archipalego in the late 18th century with trade interests as their objective. Sir Francis Light founded Penang in 1786 while Sir Stamford Raffles founded Singapore in 1819. Malacca was ceded to the British in 1824. It is presumed that a Shepherdson came with the British during this period and worked with the British East India company, a trading company set up by the British in the east.

No information is available regarding who the first Shepherdson in the east was and which part of Britain he originated from. He, like most Britishers, presumably married the local Dutch and Portuguese Eurasians who had already lived in the region for a few hundred years since the 16th century. The Portuguese had conquered Malacca in 1511 while the Dutch ruled the state in 1640. John Shepherdson married Johanna Pestanna, of Portuguese origin.

The Shepherdsons Today