ABSTRACT
Alfred Tresidder Sheppard ‘When Mr Hardy came to stay at the house it was part of my duty to look after and valet him. He was very frail even then, but was always independent whenever he was able to be so. He insisted on getting out of the car without help, but he always had to get out backwards and we would stand by ready to assist him in case of need; he never liked to be touched if it could be avoided. He was devoted to his wife, and she to him. I often heard him say, “She is my inspiration”, and more than once he said that his later poems would never have been written if it had not been for her. He said that he could never put into words his immense debt to her.
