Shaw family

SHAW family of England

INTRODUCTION

Our earliest known Shaw ancestors are to be found living in Cheshire, England in the 16th Century. They are land owners and people of substance and hence there are wills and land deeds to help in tracing them.

After Roger Shaw (born about 1550) and Humphrey Shaw (born about 1592) all our ancestors are a line of John Shaws who are also yeomen. Then there is John Shaw, (born 1689) the clockmaker. His son John (born 1716) went to London where he was a cabinet maker, living near and attending the Church of St. George, Hanover Square. There his six children are baptised and four daughters are buried. His only son, John, becomes a surgeon and apothecary (like his uncle, Joseph Shaw) and sets up practice in Bexley, Kent. and later in Charlotte Street, London. The three surviving sons of John the surgeon are an architect, a clergyman and an officer in the East India Company who later travels to Australia with his second wife and two children and becomes a clerk of the Court at Willunga, South Australia.

Joseph Shaw's grandson, Charles John Shaw (born 1839), started the New Zealand branch of the family after emigrating to Christchurch, New Zealand on the barque "Victory" in 1859. After taking a trip back to England to see his family in 1864/65, Charles John meets and later marries in Christchurch Annie Matilda Baggett. She had been born in Jamaica, and had come to New Zealand after living in Victoria, Australia. They had a large and hopeful family.

Below are biograpies of John Shaw (1741-1789) and two of his sons, John and Joseph.

John Shaw, SSS FLS (Fellow of the Linnean Society) Surgeon of Charlotte Street, Bedford Road, London was born at London on 28 October 1741, the son of John Shaw, cabinet maker and Jane, nee Barton.
He married Elizabeth Latham on 28 April 1772 at St. Margarets Lothbury, London, died on 28 December 1789 and was buried in the family vault at Bexley, Kent. Like his father-in-law, John was a surgeon and apothecary and practised in partnership with his father-in-law, William Latham and his wifes cousin, Thomas Latham, until William Latham died in 1778. John then signed a deed that he would not practice within 10 miles of Bexley. He was a surgeon of Charlotte Street, London, in December 1789 when his 11 year old son, Joseph Shaw, was admitted to St. Pauls School, London. John Shaw and William Latham were members of the vestry at Bexley and their signatures are on a report of a vestry meeting on 15 September 1774.

John Shaw, John and Elizabeth's eldest son, was born on 10 March 1776 and married Elizabeth Hester Whitfield on 11 January 1799 at St. George's Hanover Square, London and died at Ramsgate on 30 July 1832. John was articled to George Guilt the elder and commenced practice as an architect in 1798. He built many country houses, including Clifden, Buckinghamshire; Blendon Hall, Kent; Rook's Nest, Surrey; Ham Hall, Staffordshire; and Cresswell Hall, Northumberland. In 1819 he restored Newstead Abbey for Colonel Wildman, and designed the new church of St. Dunstan, Fleet Street, London, which was completed in 1833. In 1816 he was appointed architect and sueveyor to Christ's Hospital, to which he made extensive additions. He was also architect to the Ramsgate Harbour Trust, and designed the clock tower there, as well as the obelisk erected to commemorate the visit of George IV in 1821.
John was largely engaged in the valuation of property in London for compensation on account of the extensive street improvements effected in his time. He was a fellow of the Royal and Linnean societies, of the Society of Antiquaries anbd Institute of British Architects.

Joseph Shaw, the second son of John and Elizabeth (Latham) was born at Bexley, Kent on 5 February 1778 and married Agnes Isabella Benge at St. George's, Hanover Square on 5 June 1800 and died at Pitney, Somerset on 18 July 1851.
Joseph went to St. Pauls School, London when he was 11 years old. His father died two weeks later. In 1796, he was a Pauline Exhibitioner which means that he was one of two scholars to be granted �40 a year for seven years to cover his costs at Oxford. Joseph matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1796 aged 18 years and completed his BA in 1799 and married in 1800. He was a curate at Ash, Surrey where his first child was born in 1802. He then acquired the living of High Ham, Somerset in 1803 and retained it until his death in 1851. As Rector he could appoint a curate to take the services at High Ham and his eldest son, William, fulfilled that role over many years. Reverend Josephs wife had a delicate constitution and later on he took her to the South of France for the benefit of the warmer climate. They stayed there for a few years until Agnes died at Tours in 1836. Joseph returned to High Ham and lived with his son, William, and his family until his death in 1851.

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