William Ralston Shedden-Ralston

Who was William Ralston Shedden-Ralston?

William Ralston Shedden-Ralston, born William Shedden and later known as William Ralston, was a noted British scholar and translator of Russia and Russian.

Born on 4 April 1828 in York Terrace, Regent's Park, London, he was the only son of W. P. Ralston Shedden, who made his fortune as a merchant in Calcutta and set up home in Palmira Square, Brighton, when he returned to England. William spent most of his early years there. Together with three or four other boys he studied under the Rev. John Hogg of Brixham, Devonshire, until he went to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1846, where he graduated with a BA in 1850.

During this period William's father entered into a lengthy but unsuccessful litigation over his claim to Ralston estates in Ayrshire. The cost dissipated his fortune. The family pressed the claim for many years. Shedden's only sister took up the pleadings, and at one stage conducted the case before a committee of the House of Lords for more than thirty days. William had been called to the bar before the litigation began, but the change in the family's fortunes forced him to seek immediate remunerative employment. He also adopted the additional surname of Shedden.