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

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

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 The 1929 Palestine riots, Buraq Uprising ( ar, ثورة البراق, ) or the Events of 1929 ( he, מאורעות תרפ"ט, , ''lit.'' Events of 5689 Anno Mundi), was a series of demonstrations and riots in late August 1929 in which a longst ...

Early life

Born in 1863, Shaw was the second son of George Shaw, a barrister, of

St George's Square St George's Square is a prestigious and very long garden square in affluent Pimlico, Central London. It benefits from gardens and a church in its central area. Near the northern acute angle, the square is intersected by Lupus Street. Pimlico ...

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of 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 Victor ...

. He was educated at Brighton College, leaving the school in 1879, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a 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 college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

,''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'', 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,

, 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 exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

in 1888.''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

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

Legal career

Shaw practiced at

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

at the bar from 1888 until 1906. In 1906, Shaw was appointed Police Magistrate 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 ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

. 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 The Chief Justice of Belize is the head of the Supreme Court of Belize. Under Chapter 7 of the Constitution of Belize, the Chief Justice is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister. Since the retirement of Kenneth B ...

(now

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern 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 wa ...

). Between 1914 and 1921 he served as a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. He was knighted in the

1921 Birthday Honours The 1921 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of the King, and were ...

. 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

. 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,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, on 24 April 1937. He was buried at

Great Canford Canford Magna is a village in Dorset, England. The village is situated just south of the River Stour and lies between the towns of Wimborne Minster and Poole. The village has a mixture of thatch and brick buildings, mostly serving as residences ...

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 British 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