• Thomas Lawes Shapcott

    Thomas Lawes Shapcott was born in Sutton Veney, Wiltshire in 1795 to James Shapcott, a schoolteacher and lay preacher and Ann Lawes, a schoolmaster's daughter. Thomas was educated at the Free Grammar School in Southampton under the tutelage of George Whittaker, the headmaster at that time. He entered Oxford on 16th December 1813 at the age of 18 and studied at St Alban Hall, now part of Merton College, to gain a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1818. He subsequently achieved a Master of Arts from Magdalen Hall in 1826.

    As he completed his undergraduate degree he was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England and at the end of the following year in 1819, as a priest. In the same year he was appointed headmaster of his old school, Southampton Free Grammar School now King Edward VI School. The records of the Bishop of Salisbury confirm his appointment as a schoolmaster on 20 December 1819, the day after his ordination.

    He remained as Headmaster living at the school in Bugle St until his death in 1854. During that time he held several appointments within the Church of England. From 1821 to 1823 he was the Curate of the East Kennett parish in Wiltshire, then he became the Vicar of St Michael the Archangel's church in Southampton in 1825 and four years later the Rector of that church.In 1740 he was also appointed Rector of All Saints and later Chaplain to Southampton town gaol and the Royal Southern Yacht Club.

    When he died his parishoners at St Michael's wanted to bury him at St Michael's but burial in the church was no longer allowed and the churchyard had become overful so he had to be buried in the Southampton cemetery in which his second wife, Jane and his unmarried daughter Jemima Ann are also buried. Instead the parishoners erected a memorial to him and also to one of his sons who was lost at sea.

    Sources: Various Southampton historical records

  • Admiral Lord Jellicoe

    Extract from www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk

    John Jellicoe, the son of a sea captain, was born in Southampton in 1859. He joined the British Navy and served in the Egyptian War of 1882 and was one of the survivors of the collision between Victoria and Camperdown in 1893.

    In 1900 Jellicoe was chief of staff on the international overland expedition to relieve the legations in Peking during the Boxer Rising. Jellicoe played an important role in the modernisation of the Royal Navy under Admiral John Fisher. As director of naval ordnance (1905-07) and controller of the navy (1908-10), Jellicoe was a strong supporter of the new Dreadnought battleships, torpedo boats and submarines. In November, 1911, Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty, appointed Jellicoe as Second-in-Command of the British Grand Fleet.

    On the outbreak of the First World War, Admiral Jellicoe replaced Sir George Callghan as Commander of the Grand British Fleet. Jellicoe directed operations at the battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. Jellicoe was criticised for his defensive attitude towards sea warfare and in 1916 was replaced by Sir David Beatty. He became First Sea Lord until he was dismissed by David George Lloyd on 24 December 1917 over a disagreement about the introduction of convoys in the Battle of the Atlantic.

    After the war Jellicoe became governor of New Zealand(1920-24). Sir John Jellicoe died in 1935 and is buried in St Paul's Cathedral.

  • Sir Charles William Cayzer

    Extract from Who's Who in Glasgow in 1909

    The head of the firm Cayzer, Irvine & Co., owners of the Clan line of steamers, is a son of the late Charles William Cayzer, of Heatherleigh, Devonshire. In 1892 he was returned to the Conservative interest as M.P. for Barrow-in-Furness, and his re-election in 1900 was unapposed. In 1895 he gave $10,000 towards the erection of the Sailors Orphans Homes at Kilmacolm. In 1897 he was knighted, and he has since received the honour of a baronetcy. he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Honorary Colonel of the 1st Lanarkshire Volunteer Artillery, and a Justice of the Peace for Renfreshwire, Stirlingshire, and Dunbartonshire. For many years he resided at Ralston near Paisley, but some time ago he acquired the estate of Gartmore from Mr R.B. Cunningham Graham. He is also owner of the estate of Newtyle, in Forfarshire. Angling, shooting, and golf are his holiday occupations and he has travelled in South Africa, Egypt, India, China,and Japan. He married in 1868, Agnes Trickey, only daughter of Mr William Trickey of Clifton and had a family of three daughters and six sons. Two of his sons entered the army, one the navy, and three are partners in their fathers's firm.

    Extract from www.managementoday.com

    For the Cayzer story started more than a century ago, with a young schoolmaster's son called Charles William Cayzer - a precocious lad who could well affford to take risks. A youth spent by the Thames gave the young Cayzer a passionate interest for the sailing which took him to Bombay and then to Liverpool where he set up selling ship stores. In 1875, at age 35 where he set up in partnership with Captain Alexander Irvine, Charles Cayzer founded Cayzer, Irvine and Company.

    Backed by borrowings, the young businessman soon wrangled deals that had his Clan Line Association Steamers serving India and South Africa. When he died in 1916, having won a seat in parliament and a knighthood, his sons took over the firm shifting its head office to London. Two of his children succeeded him in the chair, Sir August Cayzer and the first Lord Rotherwick.