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 ...

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 The chief justice of Singapore is the presiding member of the Supreme Court of Singapore. It is the highest post in the judicial system of Singapore, appointed by the president, chosen from the candidates recommended by the prime minister. The in ...

. He was also the chairman of the

Shaw Commission The Shaw Report, officially the Report of the Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August 1929, commonly known as the Shaw Commission, was the result of a British commission of inquiry, led by Sir Walter Shaw, established to investigate ...

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. Pimlic ...

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 London V ...

. He was educated at

Brighton College Brighton College is an independent, co-educational boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18); Brighton College Preparatory Sc ...

, leaving the school in 1879, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

,''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 ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...

'', 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 Inn an ...

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 established ...

'' (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 omnipresen ...

at the bar from 1888 until 1906. In 1906, Shaw was appointed

Police Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

and Acting

Chief Justice of St Vincent The Chief Justice of St Vincent was the head of the Supreme Court of Saint Vincent in Saint Vincent, an island member of the Windward Islands in the West Indies. The court was replaced by the Windward and Leeward Islands Supreme Court and the W ...

. 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 Pe ...

. 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 wate ...

). Between 1914 and 1921 he served as a

puisne judge A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...

of the

Supreme Court of Ceylon The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

. He was knighted in the 1921 Birthday Honours. He was appointed as

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

, 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 Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poole ...

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 (unitary authority), Dors ...

, on 24 April 1937. He was buried at Great Canford 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