Twelve Victorian letters written during the 1870s from George Shaw to his wife.
It appears that George was visiting friends on a farm at Cove, near Tiverton in Devon and wrote almost daily to his wife. George was the vicar or rector of Elsworth, near St Ives in Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire) and lived in the rectory.
Letter Ann Dobson to Caroline Isabella Shaw 1870s
Ann Dobson’s letter to her daughter Caroline Isabella Shaw in the 1870’s.
Ann Cleaver was born in 1812 in Whitby, Yorkshire. She married John Ralph Dobson on 14 May 1838. They had four children in 12 years. She died on 12 January 1885 in Cambridgeshire at the age of 73. She was great-grandmother of Mabel.
Caroline Isabella Shaw was born on 29 August 1843 in Walshford, Yorkshire, her father, John, was 31, and her mother, Ann, was 31. She married George Shaw on 20 May 1868 in Elsworth, Cambridgeshire. They had ten children in 10 years. She died on 12 July 1885 in Essex at the age of 41. She was the grandmother of Mabel.
Reverend George Shaw (1817-1845)
George Shaw was born on 5 June 1817 in Waltham On The Wolds, Leicestershire, the son of Maria and James. He married Elizabeth Daintree on 28 October 1841 in Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire. They had two children during their marriage. On June 14, 1840 he became Vicar of Fen Drayton, Cambridgeshire. He died on 28 January 1845 in Torquay, Devon, at the age of 27. He was Mabel’s great-grandfather.
Elsworth Rectory, Cambridgeshire: The Tenure of Rev. George Shaw (1844–1881)
Rev. George Shaw was born on 15 February 1844 in Hastings, Sussex, into a family with strong ecclesiastical roots. Educated and ordained within the Church of England, he was appointed Rector of Elsworth, Cambridgeshire, in 1874, under the Diocese of Ely. He held this post until his untimely death on 18 June 1881, aged just 37.
Elsworth, a rural parish with deep agricultural traditions, was at the time a modest yet spiritually active community. As Rector, Shaw would have been responsible not only for conducting weekly services at Holy Trinity Church, but also for overseeing baptisms, marriages, funerals, and the religious education of parishioners. His residence at Elsworth Rectory placed him at the heart of village life, both spiritually and socially.
Rev. Shaw was remembered locally as a compassionate and dutiful clergyman. His death was noted with sorrow in local notices, and his burial in the parish churchyard is believed to be marked by a modest memorial. His life and service left a lasting impression on the parish, and he is remembered as part of Elsworth’s ecclesiastical heritage.
Through his family line, Rev. George Shaw was the grandfather of Agnes Mabel Shaw (1898–1991), later known simply as Mabel Shaw. Her connection to Elsworth and to the clerical Shaw family underscores the continuity of presence and influence across generations in Cambridgeshire’s rural communities.
