Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Theophilus Shepstone a Westbury-on-Trym kusa da Bristol, Ingila. Lokacin da yake dan shekara uku mahaifinsa, Rev. William Theophilus, ya yi hijira zuwa Cape Colony. Young Shepstone ya sami ilimi a tashoshin mishan na asali inda mahaifinsa ya yi aiki, kuma yaron ya sami ƙwarewa sosai a cikin yarukan 'yan asalin Afirka ta Kudu, yanayin da ya ƙayyade aikinsa. A cikin Xhosa War
Daga 1835 ya yi aiki a matsayin mai fassara a kan ma'aikatan gwamnan, Sir Benjamin d'Urban, kuma a ƙarshen yakin ya kasance a kan iyaka a matsayin magatakarda ga wakilin kabilun gida.