Norton Shaw

Norton Shaw

Dr Norton Shaw
Died	1868
Occupation	medical
Society Membership membership ESL Hon. Fellow left 1868 deceased elected_ESL 1858.05.05 societies Royal Geographical Society

Notes

House Notes

Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society

Notes From Elsewhere

Shaw, H. Norton, ?-1868 : Qualified as a surgeon in Copenhagen. Travelled widely as a surgeon for a shipping line. Assistant Secretary 1849-54 and Acting Secretary 1854-63 of the Royal Geographical Society 1849-54. British Consul at St. Croix. -
Born in one of the Danish West India Islands, the son of a General in the Danish service, young Norton Shaw received part of his education in New York. He afterwards became an Assistant-Surgeon in the Navy, and, having retired from that vocation, he was chosen in 1848 our Assistant-Secretary. ...
His eldest son is an accomplished young lawyer at Copenhagen

Assistant-Secretary of the RGS from 1849 until 1863, a position that was salaried. He was born in the Danish West Indies, the son of a Danish General, and was partly educated in New York. He became an Assistant Surgeon in the Merchant Navy, retiring to work for the RGS. He was known for his success in recruiting Fellows to the society, improving its financial footing. He also founded the Kosmos Dining Club, which Burton was a member of. A personality clash with Francis Galton, an Honorary Secretary, led to the resignation of both men in 1863, after which Shaw left the Society altogether and was Consul at Sante-Croix in the West Indies (under Danish jurisdiction) until his death there. The Kosmos Dining Club was continued after his departure by H.W. Bates. He produced a revised edition of J. R. Jackson’s What to Observe; or, the Traveller’s Remembrancer (London: Houlston & Wright, 1861)—an annotated copy of the third edition survives in Burton’s personal library—and also edited many other books of travel, e.g. Narrative of a Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico in the Years 1599-1602 by Samuel de Champlain (1859).
Shaw was Secretary of the West Indian Association and was an active organizer in the annual meetings of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Although he was never a Fellow of the RGS, he was very active and influential in editing their publications; they granted him 500 pounds on his retirement and a “Norton Shaw Testimonial Fund” was started to gather donations. See the notice by Sir Roderick Murchison in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.[236] His brother Geronimo Shaw also had dealings with the RGS.
Shaw knew Burton since 1852 at the latest, and put him in touch with many figures who were influential in geographical circles. They maintained an active, warm and extensive correspondence, both personally and in an official capacity, which appears in Volume 1. After the break with Speke, Shaw was placed, much like Francis Galton, in the difficult position of maintaining friendly relations with both men, without appearing to choose sides.
Many years after the death of Shaw, Karl Pearson stumbled on rumours still circulating within the RGS that some indelicate scandal was associated with Norton Shaw’s departure, vaguely involving a woman and an apartment

Publications

External Publications

Narrative of a voyage to the West Indies and Mexico in the years 1599-1602 ... (London, Printed for the Hakluyt Society, 1859), also by Samuel de Champlain and Alice Wilmere (page images at HathiTrust)

An Arctic Boat-Journey in the Autumn of 1854 (Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration)

Royal Illustrated Atlas

Editor of RGS volumes

House Publications

Remarks on the various races of the Cape Colony and adjacent districts of South Africa – by Mr Baines, communicated by Dr Norton Shaw

Related Material Details

Other Material

RGS: letters