Sir Robert Shaw, 1st Baronet (29 January 1774 – 10 March 1849) of

Bushy Park, Dublin Bushy Park () is a large, , suburban public park in Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. Location Although situated mainly in Terenure, and listed by the city council with that address, it stretches to the borders of Rathfarnham and Templeogue. It ...

was a

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

who represented Dublin City from 1804 to 1826. Sir Robert's great-great-grandfather, William Shaw, had gone to Ireland and fought for King William at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

in 1689, and was rewarded by the grant of land there. William's great-grandson, Robert Shaw sr., moved to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

in the mid-18th century, prospered as a merchant and became Accountant General of the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. In 1785 he acquired

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is an affluent, middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6W postcode area. Location and transport Terenure lies primarily in the administrative area of Dublin City ...

House, an estate of . His eldest son, Robert, was born in 1774. On 7 January 1796 Robert junior married Maria, daughter and heiress of Abraham Wilkinson, and as a dowry received £10,000 together with a estate,

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hamp ...

(possibly named after

Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...

) which adjoined Terenure House. Six months later he succeeded his father to the Terenure estate, which he sold in 1806, establishing Bushy Park House as the family seat (which was then occupied by members of the Shaw family until 1951). In 1796 he became a Dublin Sheriff's peer, a position he held until 1808, and was appointed

High Sheriff of County Dublin The Sheriff of County Dublin (or (High) Sheriff of the County of Dublin) was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Dublin. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the Sheriff became an annual appointment follo ...

for 1806–07. He was an alderman of Dublin from 1808 to 1841 and was elected

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

for 1815–16. Between 1799 and 1800, Shaw served in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fr ...

for

Bannow Bannow () is a village and civil parish lying east of Bannow Bay on the south-west coast of County Wexford, Ireland. In modern times the main settlement is the village of Carrig-on-Bannow (or ''Carrig''). In Norman times there was a borough ...

. After the Acts of Union Shaw replaced the former

John Claudius Beresford John Claudius Beresford (23 October 1766 – 20 July 1846) was an Irish Tory Member of the UK Parliament representing Dublin City 1801–1804 and County Waterford 1806–1811. Early life Beresford was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. From ...

as an MP for Dublin City in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election use ...

on 31 March 1804. Shaw retained the seat until he retired, at the dissolution of Parliament in 1826. He was created a baronet (i.e. becoming Sir Robert) on 17 August 1821, being formally invested by

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

when he visited Ireland in 1822. Maria died in 1831 having borne nine children, including 6 sons, of whom only 3 outlived their father. Their surviving daughter Charlotte married Sir William MacMahon, 1st Baronet,

Master of the Rolls in Ireland The Master of the Rolls in Ireland was a senior judicial office in the Irish Chancery under English and British rule, and was equivalent to the Master of the Rolls in the English Chancery. Originally called the Keeper of the Rolls, he was respon ...

and had eight children. Sir Robert's cousin, Bernard Shaw, had died in 1826 and Sir Robert had provided Bernard's widow, Frances, with a cottage on the Terenure estate where she lived for the next 45 years. One of Frances' grandchildren,

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, was to be a regular visitor. On several occasions, Sir Robert proposed to Frances, but he was turned down each time In July 1834 he married Amelia Spencer at Twickenham Parish Church. The couple kept a home in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the borou ...

, and were closely involved in the formation of the Twickenham Independent (Congregational) chapel. Sir Robert died on 10 March 1849 at Bushy Park, Dublin and was succeeded by his eldest son Sir Robert Shaw, 2nd Baronet, and then by his younger son

Sir Frederick Shaw, 3rd Baronet Sir Frederick Shaw, 3rd Baronet (11 December 1799 – 30 June 1876) was an Irish Conservative MP in the United Kingdom Parliament, and a judge. He was the second son of Colonel Sir Robert Shaw, Bt of Bushy Park, Dublin and his first wife Ma ...

References

*''Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801–1922'', edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978) *''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), 2nd edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973)
Twickenham United Reformed Church: Our founder
* *

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Robert 1774 births 1849 deaths People from Templeogue Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Lord Mayors of Dublin Irish MPs 1798–1800 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Dublin constituencies (1801–1922) Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 High Sheriffs of County Dublin