John_Shaw-Lefevre_Vanity_Fair_1_July_1871

Sir John George Shaw Lefevre KCB (24 January 1797 – 20 August 1879) was a British barrister, Whig politician and civil servant.

Life

Shaw Lefevre was the son of

Charles Shaw Lefevre Charles Shaw-Lefevre may refer to: * Charles Shaw Lefevre (politician) (1759–1823), born Charles Shaw, British Whig politician * Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley, GCB, PC (22 February 1 ...

by his wife Helen, daughter of John Lefevre.

Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley, GCB, PC (22 February 1794 – 28 December 1888), was a British Whig politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1839 to 1857. He is the second-longest serving Speaker of the Hous ...

, was his elder brother. He was educated at

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. ...

, where he was

Senior Wrangler The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain." Specifically, it is the person who a ...

in 1818, and was called to the Bar,

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

in 1820. He was returned to Parliament for

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

in December 1832, but was unseated on petition in March 1833. He served under Lord Grey as

Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. In 1801 the offices of Under-Secretary of State for War and Und ...

in 1834. The latter year Shaw Lefevre was appointed a Poor Law Commissioner after the passing of the

Poor Law Amendment Act The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relief ...

, which he remained until 1841. Between 1856 and 1875 he served as

Clerk of the Parliaments The Clerk of the Parliaments is the chief clerk of the House of Lords in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The position has existed since at least 1315, and duties include preparing the minutes of Lords proceedings, advising on proper parlia ...

. He also helped found the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and served as its Vice-Chancellor for many years. He was made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

(KCB) in 1857 for his public services. Shaw Lefevre married Rachel Emily, daughter of Ichabod Wright, in 1824. They had one surviving son,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...

, who became a prominent politician and was ennobled as Baron Eversley, and five daughters. One daughter, Madeleine Shaw-Lefevre, was the first Principal of

Somerville Hall Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Iri ...

; another daughter, Rachel, married Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, son of the Prime Minister the 4th Earl of Aberdeen. Shaw Lefevre died in August 1879, aged 82. His wife lived for six more years before dying in February 1885. The

Lefevre Peninsula The Lefevre Peninsula is a peninsula located in the Australian state of South Australia located about northwest of the Adelaide city centre. It is a narrow sand spit of about running north from its connection to the mainland. The name given ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, was named by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

John Hindmarsh on 3 June 1837 after Shaw Lefevre, who was one of South Australia's Colonisation Commissioners.PlaceNames Online - South Australian State Gazetteer
Site is a searchable database. Accessed 13 March 2012.

References

* *

External links

*
Parliamentary Archives, Papers of John George Shaw Lefevre, 1797-1879
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw Lefevre, John 1797 births 1879 deaths Senior Wranglers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Whig (British political party) MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1832–1835 Members of the Inner Temple Vice-Chancellors of the University of London Fellows of the Royal Society Clerks of the Parliaments Church Estates Commissioners Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge