John Shaw
Mausoleum, Row 66, Level E
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto
Born in Toronto in 1837, Shaw was educated at Upper Canada College (then at the northwest corner of King and Simcoe Streets) and went on to study law, being called to the bar in 1870. In 1884 he tried his hand at municipal politics and won as alderman for St. Paul’s Ward. He was re-elected continuously each year until 1895. In 1896 he took a run at the mayor’s job, but was defeated. He was successful, though, the following year and again in 1898 and 1899.
Work on Toronto’s new City Hall (now “old” City Hall) began during Shaw’s 1889 term as alderman and a decade later still wasn’t ready. But now Shaw was mayor and, as such, ordered the contractors to finish the work immediately and then get out. It was Mayor Shaw who, on September 18, 1899, led a parade of his colleagues from the old City Hall behind the St. Lawrence Market to the new building and declared it, ready or not, officially opened. Shaw’s residence during most of his political life was a small cottage out in the countryside at 222 Bloor Street West. When he died on November 27, 1917 at the age of 79, Shaw was living in his new home, 49 Roxborough Street East.
Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded