He was the son of Joseph Sherwood, an Anglo-Russian engineer whose father was William Sherwood, a Catholic cotton machine engineer who had come to Russia at the invitation of Tsar Paul I on October 11, 1800. Joseph died when Vladimir was five years old. His uncle John Sherwood was an influential lieutenant in Tsar Alexander I's service. In fact John Sherwood (Ivan Sherwood Verny in Russian) was responsible for reporting the Dekabrist Conspiracy in 1825, a service for which he was ennobled and given the honorific Shervud Vernyi - Sherwood the Faithful. Vladimir Osipovich became one of the most visible architects of the Alexander III version of Russian Revival, also noted for his Plevna Chapel and Nikolay Pirogov memorial in Moscow.