Old Photograph Sir James Shaw Monument Kilmarnock Scotland

Old photograph of the Sir James Shaw monument in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland. Sir James Shaw, 1st Baronet, born on 26 August 1764, in Riccarton, Kilmarnock, became Lord Mayor of London, England in 1805. From humble beginnings in a farming family in Ayrshire, he became a successful merchant and politician; he was a relation of the poet Robert Burns and used his wealth to support Burns's orphaned children. As Lord Mayor of London, he led the funeral procession of Lord Nelson in 1806, having established his right to do so and was created baronet twice, in 1809 and 1813. While later Chamberlain of London, he almost lost his own fortune due to injudicious investments, and died, exonerated, in 1843. Shaw was created Baronet, of Kilmarnock, in the County of Ayr by King George III in 1809, and re-created in 1813 by a second patent to include a future interest for his nephew. As such, he was appointed a Member of Parliament for London until 1818, but thereafter sat as an alderman until he resigned in May 1843. In 1831 he was also appointed Chamberlain of London, and was almost ruined as he inadvertently invested £40,000, then a huge sum, of city funds in fake Exchequer bills. On discovering his error, he began to liquidate all his property to repay the sum, but was cleared by a commission of enquiry. Shaw resigned all his positions in 1843 due to long term illness and died some six months later on 22 October. 1843. Shaw was unmarried, and normally his baronetcy would have become extinct on his death, but because of the second patent, the title passed to his nephew, John Shaw.



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