Eyre Massey Shaw


Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw KCB was the Superintendent of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade , and its predecessor, the London Fire Engine Establishment, from 1861 to 1891. He introduced modern firefighting methods to the Brigade, and increased the number of stations.

Shaw was born in Ballymore, County Cork, Ireland and was educated first at a school in Queenstown and then at Trinity College, Dublin. Shaw considered joining the Church but decided on a career in the Army and gained a commission in the North Cork Rifles, a militia regiment of the British Army from 1854 to 1860, reaching the rank of captain. He resigned from the Army on being appointed Chief Constable of Belfast in charge of both the police and the fire brigade. In 1861, following the death of the thenhead, James Braidwood, in the line of duty while fighting a massive fire in Tooley Street, Shaw was engaged as head of the London Fire Engine Establishment. In 1865, Parliament passed the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act, placing responsibility for fire protection in the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, to be supervised by the Metropolitan Board of Works. Shaw headed the new brigade.

Source: Wikipedia


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