Person    | Male  Born 17/1/1828  Died 25/8/1908

Eyre Massey Shaw

Soldier and fire brigade chief. Probably born at Glenmore Cottage, Ballymore, Ireland. After a short military career, he was appointed Chief Constable of Belfast, being responsible for both the police and the fire brigade. In 1861 following the death of James Braidwood in the Tooley Street fire, he was engaged as head of the London Fire Engine Department. Knighted on his last day of service.

He was immortalised in Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Iolanthe' in which the Fairy Queen sings "Oh Captain Shaw, type of true love kept under, could thy brigade with cold cascade quench my great love I wonder?". By a happy chance, Shaw was sitting in the middle of the stalls on the opening night of the operetta. Died at the Grand Hotel, Folkestone.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Eyre Massey Shaw

Commemorated ati

Eyre Massey Shaw

Sir Eyre Massey Shaw, 1830 - 1908, first chief officer of the Metropolitan Fi...

Read More

Other Subjects

London Fire Brigade

London Fire Brigade

The London Fire Engine Establishment, formed in 1833 under the leadership of James Braidwood, was a private organisation funded by insurance companies, mainly aimed at saving material goods from fi...

Group, Emergency Services

12 memorials
A. Symons Eccles, MB

A. Symons Eccles, MB

Medical Board in the St John Ambulance Brigade, Metropolitan Corps, 1889-1900. Honorary Associate in the Order of St John. The Brigade's first Honorary Surgeon.

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
William H. Morgan, OBE

William H. Morgan, OBE

Assistant Commissioner in the St John Ambulance Brigade, Metropolitan Corps, 1887-1923. Officer in the Order of St John.

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Norman R. C. Mountjoy

Norman R. C. Mountjoy

Auxiliary Fireman Norman Richard Charles Mountjoy was born on 5 March 1911 in Brockley, London, the son of George Mountjoy (1885-1948) and Lily Mountjoy née Deex (1895-1954). The 1911 census shows ...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Leading Fireman James Arthur Johnson
War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial