Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

William James Henry Mitchell Shaw, known as James or Jim, was born on 14 December 1873 at Palmerston South, the eldest son and the first-born of the fourteen children of James Henry and Maria (née Mitchell) Shaw. James’ parents came to New Zealand from Scotland in 1864, bringing with them four sons (James the eldest) and a daughter. James, junior, married Lucy Charlotte Davis on 16 February 1899 at Geraldine. Three children were born to them, all at Geraldine – James Isaac in December 1899, Lucy Georgina (Ena) in June 1903, and Margaret Elizabeth (Marge) in December 1904. These children were educated at various schools in Canterbury – Orari, Sydenham, Waltham, Redcliffs (Christchurch), Lincoln, Central New Brisghton, Oxford, Sacred Heart (Christchurch). William James Henry M. Shaw was a brickmaker at Geraldine for a number of years, before getting a hotel licence at Lincoln.

William James Henry James Mitchell Shaw, of Kirwee, registered for the Mounted troops in March 1916 in the Kaiapoi area and enlisted on 3 May 1916 at Narrow Neck. He had been a hotel keeper and was then mining, giving his address as Kirwee. He had served three years with the Waimate Volunteer Rifles before leaving the district. He named his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs Lucy Shaw, 13 Cecil Street, Sydneham, Christchurch. Sapper W. J. H. M. Shaw embarked with the New Zealand Engineers, Tunnelling Company.

Sapper W. J. H. Shaw, 21429, returned to New Zealand in March 1918 by Draft 147, on a vessel carrying sick and invalided soldiers. He was heading for Marotiri via Foxton. He was discharged on 16 April 1918, no longer fit for war service, having a fractured right leg. It was in March 1918 that Ena Shaw, the older daughter of James and Lucy, gave to the Patriotic Shop in aid of French War Orphans. Post war James was a labourer and a farmer. On 1 August 1919 at the meeting of the Wellington Land Board, W. J. H. M. Shaw was granted an application for land (Retaiuke, Section3, Block XIV), under section 4 of the Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement Act, 1915. Later in August a further application was approved. James and Lucy resided at Marotiri, Foxton and at Whakahoro, returning to Lincoln not long before James died.

Jim’s father who died in 1928 and his mother in 1938, were buried in the Waitahuna Cemetery. James Shaw died on 30 September 1938 at Christchurch Hospital, aged 64 years, and was buried in Bromley Cemetery “A patient sufferer at rest.” A servicemen’s stone marks his grave. He was survived by his wife, son and two daughters. Lucy sied in 1967, aged 90, and was buried at Kelvin Grove Cemetery, Palmerston North.

Jim’s brothers, Stanley Richard Shaw, Stewart Samuel Shaw and Sydney Richard Shaw, all served with the New Zealand forces, while Oliver John Shaw served with the Australian forces. Several cousins also served, one of them being killed in action - William Murray Shaw, Cecil John Shaw (with the Australian forces) 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; in addition, Herbert George Shaw enlisted in New Zealand. Stanley R. Shaw and his four brothers who served are remembered on the Greenfield War Memorial as Returned.

“At the intersection of the roads in the very heart of Greenfield, with the tall pines softly bowing their venerable heads and forming an august and sheltering rampart, lies a portion of ground dedicated by the patriotic hearts of the Greenfield residents to the memory of those who left the district in response to their country’s call in her time of need. As the days pass and the years come and go, and age waxes old with those who stood around on that day of dedication the lofty marble pedestal will still continue to stir the hearts of passers-by with feelings of pride at the names thereon enrolled, of gratitude for those who returned, of reverence for those who fell, and of mingled joy and pride at the glory they achieved and the peace they helped to win.” [Clutha Leader. 6 January 1920.] The soldiers’ memorial at Greenfield was unveiled in early January 1920. The hymn “Now Thank We, O Our God,” was sung, prayer was offered, and “The Last Post” was sounded. On the front is a scroll with the inscription, “War 1914/1919 Peace,” and below are the names of the nine fallen. Beneath are the words: “This monument has been erected by the residents of Greenfield in grateful recognition of those who served their King and country in the Great War.” On either side are the names of the men who returned, among the twenty-five names those of the five Shaw brothers - Stewart Shaw, Oliver Shaw, W. J. H. Shaw, Sydney Shaw, and Stanley R. Shaw.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [28 February 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [24 February 2021]; Bromley Cermetery, Christchurch, burial record (Christchurch City Council) [28 February 2021]; Bromley Cemetery headstone image (Find A Grave) [285 February 2021]; Waitahuna Cemetery records [25 February 2021]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [25 & 28 February 2021]; Star, 13 March 1918, Dominion, 14 March 1918, Manawatu Herald, 21 May 1918, Evening Post, 1 August 1919, Clutha Leader, 6 January 1920, Press, 1 October 1938 (Papers Past) [28 February 2021; 01 March 2021]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

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Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.