William Shaw (1797-1853)

William Shaw "of the strand" (1797–1853) was a British agricultural writer, editor and translator, first editor of the agricultural journal Mark Lane Express, and of The Farmer's almanac and calendar, and co-founder of the Farmers Club in 1842. He is known for advocating agricultural reforms and improvements.

William Shaw was born in Bath, Somerset in 1797, as eldest son of John Shaw of Bath. He spent two years from June 1813 to June 1815 at Wadham College, Oxford, and was admitted to the Inner Temple on 20 June 1828, being called to the bar on 22 November 1833.

In 1832 Shaw co-founded the weekly agricultural journal Mark Lane Express, of which he became its first editor. The other co-founders were Cuthbert William Johnson (1799-1878), John Rogerson and Joseph Rogerson, farmers from Lincolnshire, Doctor J. Blackstone, and George Parker Tuxford. In his position as editor Shaw played a leading role in advocating innovative farming techniques and the formation of agricultural societies and farmer's clubs in Britain.

Shaw further came into public prominence in connection with his efforts towards the establishment of the Royal Agricultural Society. He took a leading part in the preliminary work of forming this society, and at the inaugural meeting held on 9 May 1838. He was chosen the first secretary, a position which he resigned in the following year, when he was elected 7 August 1839 a member of the council. Shaw was also elected honorary member of the French Académie d'Agriculture.

In 1838 he had started with his lifelong friend, Cuthbert William Johnson. In 1841 they started as the first editors of The Farmer's almanac and calendar. This publication had an annual sale of about 15,000 between 1841 and 1865, and was according to Goddard (1983), "probably among the most widely read of all agricultural publications of the nineteenth century." The Farmers' Almanack and Calendar continued to be issued annually in their joint names, notwithstanding Shaw's death in 1853, until 1872. Shaw was a great supporter of farmers' clubs, and a frequent speaker and reader of papers at them. The establishment of the London Farmers Club in 1842 was greatly owing to his efforts, and he was honorary secretary from 1840 to 1843. Other founders of the Farmers Club were James Allen Ransome, Robert Baker, and one or two others. In 1844 Shaw and Johnson translated and brought out an English edition of Von Thaer's Principles of Agriculture.

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