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

Mrs A. Calvin Lines

Mrs A. Calvin Lines

Lady District Superintendent in the St John Ambulance Brigade, Metropolitan Corps, 1893-1923. Dame Grace in the Order of St John.

Person, Emergency Services, Medicine, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
John H. Maynard

John H. Maynard

Fireman killed as a result of an air raid on Court Downs Road, Beckenham, Kent on 16 April 1941. Andrew Behan has kindly carried out some research on this man:  Fireman John Henry Maynard was born...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
Station Officer Charles Fisher

Station Officer Charles Fisher

Fire fighter who died as a result of a fire at Covent Garden. Charles Fisher was born on 14 November 1906 in Bermondsey, London, a son of Joseph William Fisher (b.1876) and Alice Ellen Fisher née ...

Person, Emergency Services, Tragedy

1 memorial
Auxiliary Fireman John William Frederick May Brazier

Auxiliary Fireman John William Frederick May Brazier

In the photograph Auxiliary Fireman John William Frederick May Brazier is in the middle row, 2nd from the left. John William Frederick May Brazier was born on 2 February 1912 in Peckham, London, t...

Person, Emergency Services

War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
British Transport Police

British Transport Police

A national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland. The force polices more than 10,000 miles of track and more than 3,000 stations and depots - tasked w...

Group, Emergency Services, Transport

1 memorial