Charles Shaw (1832 – 5 March 1906) was an
English potter
A potter is someone who makes pottery.
Potter may also refer to:
Places United States
*Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US
* Potter, Arkansas
*Potter, Nebraska
* Potters, New Je ...
, born in
Tunstall, Staffordshire.
[Robert Fyson, �]
Shaw, Charles (1832–1906)
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He is notable for his autobiography (''When I was a Child''), published by Methuen in March 1903 under the name "An Old Potter". Shaw was a staunch Liberal and believer in free trade, who intended to warn of the dangers of protectionism. Fellow Liberal Robert Spence Watson wrote the book's introduction, calling it a reminder of the condition of child labour
Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...
in the 1840s and as an inspiration to improve children's conditions. However, despite Watson financing 1500 copies, Shaw's autobiography did not sell well....now valued both as a moving firsthand account of child labour in the pottery industry, and as a narrative of his ‘pursuit of knowledge under difficulties’, inspired by the values of self-help and his religious faith, which enabled him to escape from a life of manual labour. The book vividly illuminates many aspects of Potteries social history, such as popular recreations, life in the workhouse, and the riots of 1842, in a way unequalled by any other source. The popularity of ‘history from below’, and academic interest in working-class autobiographies, have established ''When I was a Child'' as not only an essential source for Potteries history, but also a classic of its kind and a memorial to its otherwise obscure author.
Notes
External links
Charles Shaw's Autobiography Online
Further reading
*W. H. Chaloner, ‘''When I was a child'' by “An Old Potter” (1903)’, ''Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society'', 40 (1975–6).
*D. Stuart (ed.), ''People of the Potteries'' (1989).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Charles
1832 births
1906 deaths
English potters
People from Tunstall, Staffordshire