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

Bushy Park, Dublin Bushy Park () is a large, , suburban Urban park, 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 Temple ...

was a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

UK Member of Parliament, who represented Dublin City from 1804 to 1826.

Early life

Robert Shaw Jr was born in 1774, the eldest son of Robert Shaw Sr. His father had moved to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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 letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. Shaw was also the great-great-grandson of William Shaw, who, in 1689, had gone to Ireland and fought for

King William King William may refer to: People Bimbia * William I of Bimbia * William II of Bimbia () Britain and Ireland * William of England (disambiguation), multiple kings * William I, King of Scots (–1214), also known as William the Lion German Empir ...

at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

and been rewarded with the grant of land there.

Career

In 1796, Shaw 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 () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...

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 the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for Bannow. 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 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

on 31 March 1804. Shaw retained the seat until he retired, at the dissolution of Parliament in 1826. Shaw was also Colonel of the Royal Dublin Militia and the Chairman of the board of the South Dublin Union, seats that fell vacant on his death.

Family seat and baronetcy

In 1785, Shaw's father had acquired

Terenure Terenure (), originally called ''Roundtown'', is a middle class suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6 and D6W postal districts. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Terenure was 17,972 as of the 2022 ce ...

House, an estate of . When Shaw married his wife Maria in January 1796, her dowry included the 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 Hampton ...

(possibly named after

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

) which adjoined Terenure House. Six months later, Shaw 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). Shaw was created a baronet (i.e. becoming Sir Robert) on 17 August 1821. He was 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 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

when he visited Ireland in 1822.

Personal life

Shaw married Maria Wilkinson, the daughter and heiress of Abraham Wilkinson, on 7 January 1796, and as a dowry received £10,000 together with the Bushy Park estate. Maria died in 1831 having borne nine children, including 6 sons, of whom only 3 outlived their father (Robert, Frederick and Charles). 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 as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

, was to be a regular visitor. On several occasions, Sir Robert proposed to Frances, but she turned him 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 of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, and were closely involved in the formation of the Twickenham Independent (Congregational) chapel.

Death

Sir Robert died on 10 March 1849 at Bushy Park, Dublin, aged 75. His body was interred on 16 March. Shaw was succeeded as baron by his eldest son, Lt Col. 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 M ...

References

Biography

*''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

201 Year 201 ( CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 201 for this yea ...

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