Richard Shenton

Richard Joseph "Dick" Shenton (25 October 1926 – 2 January 2013), born in St. Helier, was a politician in Jersey. He retired in 2005.

Richard Joseph Shenton the son of Benjamin Henry Shenton, B.E.M. and Kathleen Mary Troy. The third of seven children, he was educated at De La Salle College in Jersey. He and his family lived in Jersey throughout the five years (1940-1945) occupation by the Germans. His father was imprisoned by the occupying forces in 1944, and sadly in 1942 and 1943 his elder brother and sister died in their teens of malnutrition and tuberculosis.

Following the liberation of the Channel Islands, he joined the Royal Air Force, serving in the Middle East and Italy until he was demobilised in 1948. After a period of working in the dock industry he met and married Jill Mason and they emigrated to Canada in 1954. After six years in Canada, he, his wife and two infant daughters returned to Jersey and he resumed his career in the dock industry, eventually taking over as Managing Director of the only stevedoring company, and his name has been synonymous with the docks from that time. Dick Shenton is the father of four children, two daughters and two sons, and has seven grandchildren. He was a great family man and is well known for his charitable work and his loyalty to his native island. When he stood for election in 1969, he was elected a Senator with an all-island mandate, finishing top of the poll – a feat which he equaled several times. No other politician had topped any island election twice, and it is not an exaggeration to say that, having achieved this feat four times, Dick Shenton was without doubt the most popular choice of the island’s population. In 1981, 1987 and 2004 he topped every parish poll, proving his popularity with town and country residents alike.

He was a fair minded politician, and had a great affinity with the elderly, the disabled and anyone in need. His door was always open to the residents of the Island who saw him has their champion and as an Islander who would stand up for Jersey at all times. He had personally sponsored more Private members’ Propositions than any other States Member of his time, and has been responsible for more changes in legislation which benefited the people whom he represented than any other States Member.

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