William Shaw, was born in Scotland 1834 and died on his farm Muirton in the district of Hay on 9 December 1913 at the age of 79 years and 5 months. According to the Familia article, he “became a Caledon farmer and a justice of the peace like his father.”
He must have moved up to the Kimberley area after 1864, for he is said "in his 30s" to have become "a farm manager for a Mr Anderson farming at Volstruispan" [The Shaw history]. (Vogelstruis Pan is at the south western end of the De Beers farm Rooipoort, approx 8.41S;24.08E15).
It is not presently known whether he was drawn here following the discovery of diamonds (late 1860s), or by the opportunities of obtaining land, either in connection with the Albania settlement or other prospects (his family would in due course marry into the family of the Cawood Albania settlers).
It is said that in 1880 he bought, "from an old Griqua named Moses for the price of a wagon and a span of oxen", the ground stretching from the Paton farm Caerwinning to the Boomplaats/Schmidtsdrift Tswana Location. Moses had his kraal on the top of the hills running between Caerwinning and the homestead which Shaw named Muirton.
The family Griffiths was said to be living near the bank of the Vaal River near what is now the old cemetery at Muirton, although documentation to hand suggests that Griffiths was at Solanie on the Riet River, not far to the south.
It is known that at the time of his marriage in Oct 1885 William Shaw is styled "of Newlands", and states "have been one of the managers on the farm", owned by George Paton.
A circa 1900 map of Barkly West and Herbert Divisions shows farms and their ownership as established in the late 1870s.128 A considerable block of farms centred on Newlands were in the name of G. Paton, mostly dated 1877-1879, and extending southwards to the Herbert boundary, including the property now known as Caerwinning (this name does not feature on the map).
The property on which both Muirton and Mosesberg are situated was and is in Herbert Division and was identified on the map as "NW4 No 1203 Est [Estate?] W.O. Connor 29-11-1878." "Doornfontein" [=Doornbult] is "NW67 362 No 1267 R. Harvey 10-8-1877" [map, Africana Library, Kimberley: Parts of Barkly and Herbert divisions].
The names associated with these farms probably reflect the negotiated land settlement at the conclusion of the Griqualand West land disputes of the 1870s. It is interesting to note that one Henry Harvey, possibly father of R. Harvey, was an agent of Capt Adam Kok of Philippolis, while William Ogilbie Corner [probably the "W.O. Connor" on the map] was the son-in-law of Cornelis Kok of Campbell. Both had been implicated in speculative land deals insubordinate to Waterboer.
William Corner (1816-1871) was son of William Folgler Corner, a Negro mission assistant born in Demerara, British Guyana, who came to the Cape with the LMS in 1811.131 In 1816 he was in Griquatown with Hamilton and others, en route to Kuruman [Schoeman, Karel (ed), The mission at Griquatown 1801-1821: an anthology, Griquatown, 1997].
Latterly, at least, William Shaw, a "stock farmer", appears to have conducted business through the National Bank of South Africa Ltd at Sydney-on-Vaal.
"Shaw's Drift" across the Vaal between Muirton and Klipfontein (Rooipoort) retains this name to this day. This drift might have been Shaw's access to roads to Sydney-on-Vaal and Kimberley.
In 1894 the Vaal River came down in flood during the night and the Shaw's mud-brick house was washed away. With few possessions, they lived in a tent while another house was built. Work was started on the present Muirton homestead [The Shaw history]..
William Shaw left several wills,132 leading the executors of his estate "a tremendous run around" over a period of two years.111,132 Adding to the confusion, different versions of a death certificate were shuttled to and from the Cape. His estate included property and movables exceeding Đ300 Pounds.
He was married three times. At the time of his first marriage William Shaw was 51 years old, making his bride 32 years his junior. Remarkably, he was 75 when he fathered his last child.
