Sir Walter Sidney Shaw (15 April 1863 – 24 April 1937) was an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and judge. He served as a judge in a number of British colonies, his last judicial appointment being as Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements. He was also the chairman of the Shaw Commission which investigated the 1929 Palestine riots.

Early life

Born in 1863, Shaw was the second son of George Shaw, a barrister, of St George's Square,

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

. He was educated at

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

, leaving the school in 1879, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

,''Kingston Gleaner'', 26 May 1937. which was his father’s old college, where he was admitted in 1882."SHAW, WALTER SIDNEY" in

John Venn John Venn, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (4 August 1834 – 4 April 1923) was an English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing Venn diagrams, which are used in l ...

John Archibald Venn John Archibald Venn (10 November 1883 – 15 March 1958) was a British economist. He was President of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1932 until his death, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University 1941–1943, university archivist, and a ...

, eds., ''

Alumni Cantabrigienses ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...

'', Vol. 2, Part V (Cambridge University Press, 1953)
p. 482
"SHAW, WALTER SIDNEY. Adm. pens. at TRINITY, June 10, 1882. nds. of George (1843), of 71, St George's Square, London" He was called to the Bar from the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1888.''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' (Singapore), 4 September 1929, p. 12.

Legal career

Shaw practiced at

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

at the bar from 1888 until 1906. In 1906, Shaw was appointed

Police Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''Roman magistrate, magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and pos ...

and Acting Chief Justice of St Vincent. He became Chief Justice in 1907 and was appointed to the Executive and Legislative Councils. From 1908 to 1909 he was Acting Chief Justice of

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

. After two years without official duties, Shaw was Acting Administrator of St Vincent from 1911 to 1912, then from 1912 to 1914 was Chief Justice of British Honduras (now

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

). Between 1914 and 1921 he served as a

puisne judge Puisne judge and puisne justice () are terms for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. The term comes from a combination of the two French words, (since, later) and (born) which have been combined as or ; meaning ...

of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He was knighted in the 1921 Birthday Honours. He was appointed as Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements in 1921 and served in that position until his retirement in 1925. When Shaw came to Singapore he introduced the custom of wearing a wig in court. Upon his retirement, he explained that it was "not because I have any desire to attire myself in fancy costume, or because I wished to give myself any special personal importance, but because I think that it tends to remind, not only the public and the Bar, but even the judge himself, that he is a representative of that very illustrious body of men – the English judges, who have done so much to establish and maintain the freedom of the English people".

Shaw Commission

In 1929, Shaw chaired the Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August 1929, commonly known as the Shaw Commission, which looked into the causes of the 1929 Palestine riots. The Shaw Commission found that the fundamental cause of the violence "without which in our opinion disturbances either would not have occurred or would have been little more than a local riot, is the Arab feeling of animosity and hostility towards the Jews consequent upon the disappointment of their political and national aspirations and fear for their economic future".

Personal life

In 1895 Shaw married Dorothy Emma Mortimore, a daughter of Foster Mortimore. They had a son and a daughter. Shaw died at home, Fenners,

Wimborne Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, on 24 April 1937. He was buried at Great Canford on 27 April.

Legacy

Shaw Road in Singapore was either named after Shaw or another Shaw, a partner in Shaw, Whitehead and Company..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Walter 1863 births 1937 deaths 19th-century English lawyers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British barristers British Ceylon judges British Windward Islands judges Chief justices of British Honduras Chief justices of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Chief justices of the Straits Settlements Knights Bachelor People educated at Brighton College People from Wimborne Minster 19th-century British judges