Patrick Shaw-Stewart
| Patrick Houston Shaw-Stewart | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 August 1888 |
| Died | 30 December 1917 (aged 29) |
| Resting place | Metz-en-Couture, France |
| Monuments | Memorial at Balliol College Chapel, Oxford |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Banker |
| Employer | Barings Bank |
| Notable work | Achilles in the Trench (poem) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1914–1917 |
| Rank | Lieutenant commander |
| Unit | 63rd (Royal Naval) Division |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
Patrick Houston Shaw-Stewart (17 August 1888 – 30 December 1917) was an Eton College and Oxford scholar and poet of the Edwardian era who died on active service as a battalion commander in the British Royal Naval Division during the First World War. He is best remembered today for his poem Achilles in the Trench, one of the best-known war poems of the First World War.
He was born in Aber Artro Hall, near Llanbedr, Wales. His career was one of great academic brilliance, matched by a steely determination to succeed. He came first in the Eton scholarship in 1901, a year after his friend, Ronald Knox, had come first in the same examination. He won the Newcastle Scholarship at Eton in 1905. At Oxford, he won the Craven, the Ireland, and the Hertford Scholarships in Classics as well as taking a double first in Classical Moderations in 1908 and Greats in 1910. Elected to a fellowship of All Souls, he instead committed his career to Barings Bank, where he was appointed one of the youngest managing directors in the bank's history, in 1913. At this time he became devoted to Lady Diana Manners and became a leading member of her "corrupt coterie," known simply as the Coterie. When war was declared in 1914, he joined the Royal Navy, serving with Rupert Brooke. Shaw-Stewart was shaken by his prominent role in the young poet's funeral in Greece:
"The brilliant and beguiling youth who had never failed in anything, for whom all life's prizes seemed to wait his taking, had little wish to outlive his friends. He now used all his charm and influence in high places to get into the firing line."
Promoted to lieutenant commander and in temporary command of the Hood Battalion, he was killed on 30 December 1917. He is buried at Metz-en-Couture in the British extension to the communal cemetery.
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