Dr Sheard was born in Toronto and educated at Upper Canada College and the Trinity College Medical School earning a gold medal upon his graduation in 1879. He conducted postgraduate work in Europe and became a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (M.R.C.S.) in London, England. Upon his return to Toronto he was appointed Chair of Physiology at Trinity and retained that position at the new amalgamated Department of Medicine when Trinity joined the University of Toronto in 1904, remaining with the institution until 1912. He was also associated with The Lancet medical journal.
