Physician.
Born at Chesley, Ontario on 8 September 1887, son of James Shaw, he was teaching at a country school in Bertie Township when he impregnated local girl Ethel Emma Spear (1890-?) and she bore a son, Thorne Wilford Spear (1909-?). He moved to Manitoba in 1912 and entered the Manitoba Medical College from which he graduated in 1917. After serving in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during the First World War, he returned to Manitoba and practiced medicine at Russell for nearly 40 years. On 21 September 1926, he married Gertrude McKenzie Higgins (1895-1982, daugher of Arthur Fenwick Higgins) at Winnipeg and they had two daughters. He was a member of the Canadian Medical Association, College of Physicians and Surgeons (President, 1953), Canadian Legion, and Knox United Church. He died at the Winnipeg General Hospital on 6 October 1963 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Shaw House (428 Memorial Avenue, Russell, Municipality of Russell-Binscarth)
Ontario birth registrations [Ethel Emma Spear, Wilford Thorne Spear], Ancestry.
Attestation papers, Canadian Expeditionary Force, Library and Archives Canada.
Marriage registration [Thorne William Shaw, Gertrude Mackenzie Higgins], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Dr. T. W. Shaw dies funeral yesterday,” Russell Banner, 10 October 1963, page 1.
“An appreciation,” Russell Banner, 19 March 1964, page 3.
Obituary [Gertrude MacKenzie Shaw], Russell Banner, 5 May 1982, page 8.
We thank Allan Spear for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 11 February 2023
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