Thomas Shaw, 1st Baron Craigmyle (23 May 1850 – 28 June 1937), known as The Lord Shaw from 1909 to 1929, was a Scottish radical Liberal Party politician and judge. The son of Alexander Shaw of

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

, Craigmyle was educated at the

Dunfermline High School Dunfermline High School is one of four main high schools located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The school also caters for pupils from Kincardine, Rosyth and surrounding villages. The school was founded in 1468. Today it has over 1,550 pupils. ...

and at Edinburgh University. He was appointed an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

in 1875 and became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

in 1894. He gained an LLD from St Andrews University in October 1902 and from the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

in 1906 and was also Hamilton Fellow in Mental Philosophy at Edinburgh University. Craigmyle sat as

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 bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Hawick Burghs from 1892 to 1909 and served as

Solicitor General for Scotland , body = , insignia = Crest of the Kingdom of Scotland.svg , insigniasize = 110px , image = File:Official Portrait of Ruth Charteris QC.png , incumbent = Ruth Charteris KC , incumbentsince = 22 June 2021 , department = Crown Office and ...

from 1894 to 1895 and as Lord Advocate from December 1905 to 1909. He resigned from parliament and ministerial office and was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Shaw, of Dunfermline in the County of Fife, on 20 February 1909, so that he could sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

and serve as a

Lord of Appeal in Ordinary Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, commonly known as Law Lords, were judges appointed under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 to the British House of Lords, as a committee of the House, effectively to exercise the judicial functions of the House of ...

. He retired from this office in 1929 and was made an

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

as Baron Craigmyle, of Craigmyle in the

County of Aberdeen Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen ( sco, Coontie o Aiberdeen, gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The area of the county, excluding the city of Aberdeen itself, is also a lieutenancy ...

, on 7 Mar 1929. Lord Craigmyle married Elspeth, daughter of George Forrest, in 1879. He died in June 1937, aged 87, and was succeeded in the hereditary barony by his son Alexander. Lady Craigmyle died in 1939.

Arms

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,

External links

* * * * Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of St Andrews 20th-century Scottish judges 19th-century King's Counsel Shaw, Thomas Members of the Faculty of Advocates Lord Advocates Law lords Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom 1850 births 1937 deaths Shaw, Thomas Shaw, Thomas Shaw, Thomas Shaw, Thomas Shaw, Thomas UK MPs who were granted peerages Members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council People educated at Dunfermline High School Scottish King's Counsel Solicitors General for Scotland Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 19th-century Scottish lawyers Peers created by Edward VII Barons created by George V {{Scotland-Liberal-UK-MP-stub