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.
Early life and education
Shaw was born on 23 May 1850, in Dunfermline, the son of Alexander Shaw. He was educated at the Dunfermline High School. Shaw gained an LLD from St Andrews University in October 1902 and from the University of Aberdeen in 1906. He received a Master of Arts from Edinburgh University in 1874, where he was a Hamilton Fellow in mental philosophy and received the Lord Rector's Prize Essay.
Career
Shaw was appointed an advocate in 1875 and became a Queen's Counsel in 1894.
Shaw sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hawick Burghs from 1892 to 1909 and served as Solicitor General for Scotland 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 as Baron Shaw, of Dunfermline in the County of Fife, on 20 February 1909, so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.
Shaw retired from this office in 1929 and was made an hereditary peer as Baron Craigmyle, of Craigmyle in the County of Aberdeen, on 7 March 1929.
Personal life and death
Shaw married Elspeth, daughter of George Forrest, in 1879. Following their marriage, Elspeth assumed the title "Dowager Lady Craigmyle". Elspeth died on 31 May 1939, aged 92, in Woldingham.
He died on 28 June 1937, aged 87, in Glasgow, and was buried in Torphins Cemetery.
References
Footnotes
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990,