Shaw, James Rowan (Rowan)
Second Lieutenant
9th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
Killed in action on Tuesday 22 February 1916 (aged 35)
Buried:
Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, France (Grave I. D. 5)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
University of Dublin War List
University Club Great War Memorial
Trinity College Dublin War Memorial
College of St. Columba Roll of Honour 1914 – 1918, Rathfarnham
Four Courts War Memorial (Roll of Honour Irish Barristers)
Ipoh War Memorial, Perak, Malaysia
Greystones Golf Club, Co Wicklow
Brother of Major William Maxwell Shaw DSO MID
BIOGRAPHY
James Rowan Shaw was born on 20 May 1880 in Lower Baggott Street, Dublin and he was the elder son of James Johnston Shaw and Mary Elizabeth Shaw (nee Maxwell) who were married on 16 August 1870 in Greyabbey Presbyterian Church. James Johnston Shaw, a Professor of Metaphysics and Ethics, was a son of John Maxwell Shaw of Kircubbin. Mary Elizabeth Maxwell was a daughter of William Maxwell of Ballyherly, Portaferry.
The Shaw family lived in Fishquarter House, Kircubbin and in Dublin in Upper Pembroke Street and at 69 Pembroke Road.
James Johnston Shaw KC was a Barrister at Law, Recorder of Belfast and a County Court Judge (he succeeded Judge Fitzgibbon in 1909). He was Pro-Chancellor of the Queen’s University Belfast and chairman of the University Commission.
James Johnston Shaw and Mary Elizabeth had at least four children:
Margaret Gamble Maxwell (she married Robert Henry Woods on 14 August 1894 in Woodlawn Presbyterian Church, Dundrum, Dublin; Robert Henry Woods was a surgeon who was subsequently knighted)
James Rowan (born 20 May 1880 in Dublin)
William Maxwell (born 19 April 1882)
Anne Johnston (born 1 January 1885 at 23 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin; died in infancy 14 February 1886)
Mary Elizabeth Shaw died of bronchitis at 69 Pembroke Road, Dublin on 20 January 1908 (aged 65). Her son, Rowan Shaw, was in attendance and she was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
James Johnston Shaw KC died of heart disease at 69 Pembroke Road, Dublin on 27 April 1910 (aged 65). His son-in-law, Sir Robert Henry Woods, was in attendance and he was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin.
James Rowan Shaw was educated at St. Columba’s College and Dublin University, and he served through the South African War with the Imperial Yeomanry. He was awarded the Queen’s South African Medal with three clasps and was discharged on 19 January 1901. After the war he was called to the Irish Bar, and subsequently went to Ipoh, Perak in the Federated Malay States. On the outbreak of the Great War he volunteered for service, and in April 1915 received a commission in the 9th Battalion Cheshire Regiment.
Second Lieutenant James Rowan Shaw was 35 when he was killed by sniper fire on 22 February 1916 and he was buried in Pont-du-Hem Military Cemetery, France. His death was reported in The Straits Times.
Second Lieutenant James Rowan Shaw is commemorated in the University of Dublin War List; on the University Club Great War Memorial; on the Trinity College Dublin War Memorial; in the College of St. Columba Roll of Honour 1914 – 1918, Rathfarnham; on the Four Courts War Memorial (Roll of Honour Irish Barristers); on the Ipoh War Memorial, Perak, Malaysia and in Greystones Golf Club, Co Wicklow