Shaw Family Website (password needed)
Frank was born in 1915 in Shipley, Yorkshire. His father was Stanley Frank Shaw, a policeman. Stanley Frank married Mary Ann Garfitt. Frank was the only child of this marriage, Mary Ann dying when he was three years old. For a while Frank was cared for by the Garfitt grandparents, but when Stanley Frank married Eliza Blackburn, Frank was brought home. A sister (Hilda) and two brothers (Joe and Raymond) were born to the family.
Frank was educated at Salts Boys' Grammar, where he excelled, winning a scholarship to Oxford, which he was unable to take up due to parental attitude and lack of money. He was apprenticed to W.P.Butterfield in Shipley, as an office clerk or 'stool harse jack'. It was there he met the Ingle brothers, Rob, Jack and Bill, whose father, Arthur, had a post at Butterfields.
Frank was not happy in his home life, and spent a good deal of time at the Ingle home, where he met Mary, the youngest daughter, and they married in 1940.
A daughter, Valerie was born in 1941, sons John in 1944, and Geoffrey in 1947 completed the family, which by now was living in Heckmondwike, one of the woollen towns of Yorkshire.
Frank went to the war, serving in Belgium and India. To better himself, he had been studying accountancy, and was due to take an exam at the time he went into the forces. Permission for leave to take the exam was refused, and the rest of his studies had to be postponed until after the war. Then followed a long struggle to improve his position, support a young family, and study for accountancy exams. He finally made it and became ACWA.
In 1957 Frank made the move he had been waiting for, securing a post in Bingley, back on home territory. Both he and Mary had missed Shipley and its green pleasant surroundings, locked away in grimy Heckmondwike.
Frank had several posts in the Bingley area - Anderton Springs was the first, Repton Foundry (under Arnold Goldsbrough) and then Rank Wharfedale, where he remained until retirement.
Frank was a committed socialist. In the army he had refused officer training, and on the occasion of the General's visit, when the men were told 'the General will ask if there are any complaints, and you are to say no', he complained. He always challenged oppressors, and stood up for the underdog. He hated Marcus Fox, (MP for Bingley) and would not mind me saying so. He was a member of the Settle-Carlise Railway protestors, and tried to save Bingley Marsh from the motorway. He always had a keen interest in politics, and never ceased improving his mind. He studied Roman history in the University of Bradford extra-mural department, learned Greek and visited Greece and Rhodes to study the ruins. His frequent stays in Greece were enhanced by his ability to speak the language, and he made many friends. He developed a real love of the country, and I am sure would have liked to settle there, had things been different. Mary is no great traveller, and no lover of history either, but Frank managed to persuade her once to go with him.
Frank's interests included genealogy, and he researched his family tree. A site has been set up at myfamily.com for family members to visit. Unfortunately a password is needed to access the site, but interested parties can email varaly.thome@virgin.net for information. He was also a keen photographer, developing and printing his own pictures and winning prizes and giving exhibitions. See Frank's pictures for examples of his work. Out of this hobby grew his slide collection, and he used these to give illustrated lectures on his many walking tours. His slides of Old Bingley will be remembered by many in the town.