Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Cecil John Shaw was born on 28 April 1889 at Timaru, the eldest son of John and Margaret (née Godwin) Shaw. John Shaw, who had come to New Zealand from Scotland as a lad with his family, engaged in the horse-breaking business. In 1886 he married Margaret Godwin who had been born at Peel Forest or Waihi Bush. (Cecil said that his mother was born in Ireland, but she was of Irish descent.) John and Maggie had four sons and two daughters. All the sons engaged in the horse business. Their second son, John Dunn Shaw (Jack), who was considered an excellent horseman, died accidentally while taking part in the South Canterbury Hunt at Seadown in May 1915. In 1909 both Cecil Shaw and his father John had to pay damages in relation to the death of a woman on show day. Both were very talented horsemen and excellent riders. As of 1918 Cecil’s brother Herbert was also associated with the Stone Stables, which their father had acquired in 1888. He too enjoyed success in the steeplechase.

Cecil Shaw was a horse dealer, residing at the Saltwater Creek Hotel in 1911. His parents were then ont Landsborough Road, Timaru. In February 1913, he was best man for his cousin, Ernest Oliver Shaw, when Ernest married Nellie Shine at the Church of the Sacred Heart. By 1914 he was farming at Deloraine, Tasmania, Australia. There he enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 19 August 1915. He was 26 years old, a horse trainer. He recorded that he was a Rough Rider in charge of a shipment of horses. His next-of-kin was his mother, Mrs Emily Shaw, Box 161, Timaru, New Zealand. Was the incorrect given name because of ignorance or for some other reason?

Private Cecil John Shaw, 1398, served with the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. On 11 November 1915 he was admitted to the No 1 Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis, suffering from debility. He had contracted malaria. He was discharged from the hospital an invalid on 14 December 1915 and on that same day admitted to the Red Cross Convalescent Hospital (No 7) at Moutazah. He was discharged from the Red Cross Hospital on 6 January 1916 and left Suez to return invalided to Australia, where he was discharged from the force on 10 April 1916 at Hobart.

By mid 1916, Cecil was back in New Zealand. “A very quiet wedding took place on July 20 at the residence of the bride's parents, when Miss Kathleen Elsie Lamberg was married to Mr. Cecil J. Shaw, of Timaru. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. W. Shirer, only a few relatives and friends being present, including Mr. and Mrs. J. Shaw,.of Timaru, parents of the bridegroom, who has quite recently been invalided home fiom Egypt. The bride wore a dark brown costume and pretty hat, and carried a shower bouquet of white flowers. Mr. and -Mrs. Shaw left by the night express for Auckland.” [Dominion. 1 August 1916].

In 1917 he was a farmer at Hunterville when his name was drawn in the Ninth Ballot. When he enlisted on 12 April 1917 at Palmerston North, he gave his occupation as horse-breaker and his address as Feilding. He was married, Roman Catholic, and had served with the Australian Light Horse. He produced his Australian discharge certificate for the Director of Personal Services on 17 August 1917. The medical examiner noted that he had “returned from front owing to malaria fever – now absolutely well – has not had signs of shivering for 10 months & has not touched quinine for six months. Fit A”.

Cecil John Shaw and Kathleen Elsie Shaw were divorced in August 1922, Kathleen alleging desertion. On 24 January 1939 he married Rita Elizabeth Rutland. They too divorced, in 1943, Mrs Shaw having left for Nelson in September 1939 and “stayed away”. After the war, Cecil was a horse-breaker at Erewhon Station in the central North Island, following with a stint as a circus rider, and time as a teamster at Methven.

Mrs Margaret Shaw died in April 1925 at their residence, “Blair Begg” Farm in Landsborough Road, Timaru. It was between 1905 and 1911 that they acquired this property. Mr John Shaw died at St Andrews, probably at the home of his younger daughter, Elsie Jane Monica Duggan, in June 1929. Deceased at one time was one of the largest dealers in horses in the South Island, and was a fine judge of horse flesh, recorded the Timaru Herald of 21 June 1929.

Cecil John Shaw died on 15 October 1944 at Auckland Hospital, aged 55 years. His death notice read – “late of Pukekohe, son of the late John and Margaret Shaw, of Timaru”. He was found semi-conscious under a subway and taken to hospital. His injuries, which included a fractured skull, proved fatal. It was thought that he may have fallen and hit his head on a stone. He had not been long at Pukekohe, but was well-known in the district as a horse-dealer and “as the man who rode the piebald pony”. He was buried in the Catholic Section of Waikumete Cemetery with his brother-in-law, George Dunn, who had died in 1941. George Dunn’s father and his wife Edith Shaw’s father were cousins. The Public Trustee administrated his estate - £202.9.5, consisting of cash in possession, effects and tools, live stock, and sundry refunds.

While Cecil’s brother Herbert enlisted with the New Zealand forces, several cousins served, one of them being killed in action. They were William James Henry Mitchell Shaw, Oliver John Shaw (with the Australian forces), Stewart Samuel Shaw, Sydney Richard Shaw, Stanley Richard Shaw, William Murray Shaw and John Edward Shaw, all from South Canterbury, James Albert Gordon Shaw and Robert Cyril Shaw (killed in action in 1918), both from Taieri, Otago, and Robert Hyslop and George Dunn Hyslop, both from Milton; also Michael Leonard, who was born at Timaru. Cecil’s uncle, Augustine Lagoria Godwin, also served in World War One.

Sources

Extracts from Australian Imperial Force Attestation File [23 February 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [17 February 2021]; Waikumete Cemetery headstone transcription [23 February 2021]; NZ & Australia Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [23 February 2021]; Timaru Herald, 17 February 1913, 28 May 1915, 22 & 23 April 1925, 17 & 21 June 1929, Dominion, 1 August 1916, Evening Post, 24 August 1922, Auckland Star, 14 January 1941, 17 October 1944, NZ Herald, 13 January 1941, 17 October 1944, Manawatu Times, 11 May 1943, Franklin Times, 18 October 1944 (Papers Past) [23, 24 & 25 February 2021]; Probate record (Archives NZ Archway) [25 February 2021]

External Links

• Military personnel file

Related Documents

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Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

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