Early life

Shaw was born in Ellesmere Port, England in 1776 and was orphaned at the age of 7. To survive he worked for a local farmer as a bird scarer

Bird scarer

A bird scarer is any one of a number devices designed to scare birds, usually employed by farmers to dissuade birds from eating recently planted arable crops....

. During the three years he spent doing this work he discovered his artistic talent and began drawing the animals he encountered. After his mother remarried Shaw worked for his stepfather's plumbing and glazing business, and later as a mail carrier

Mail carrier

A mail carrier, mailman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman , postman/postwoman , letter carrier or postie is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses...

.

Artistic career

At the age of 16 he painted his first work: 10 commandments in St Michael's Church. His master, jealous of Shaw's skills, sent him to Manchester to work as a foreman. Shaw was able to find purchasers for his work and emerged from obscurity, traveling to London where his paintings attracted many wealthy clients.

Inventions

Shaw invented the copper percussion cap

Percussion cap

The percussion cap, introduced around 1830, was the crucial invention that enabled muzzleloading firearms to fire reliably in any weather.Before this development, firearms used flintlock ignition systems which produced flint-on-steel sparks to ignite a pan of priming powder and thereby fire the...

 in 1814. This copper cup, filled with fulminate of mercury, was a significant improvement over earlier designs like Joseph Manton

Joseph Manton

Joseph Manton was a much celebrated British gunsmith who was to revolutionise sport shooting, vastly improve the quality of weapons and father the modern artillery shell. Joseph was also a keen sports shooter in his own right and a friend of the celebrated "sportsman" Colonel Peter Hawker.Kings Of...

's tube lock or Alexander Forsyth's scent-bottle lock.

Due to the threat of legal action from Forsyth Shaw kept his invention a secret until his return to America in 1822 where he patented his design. During the Regency period his percussion cap, along with Forsyth and Manton's inventions, became popular among hunters on both sides of the Atlantic. In the 1830s the British, French and Russian armies began adopting his form of ignition. The Austrians, by contrast, preferred the tube-lock derived from Joseph Manton

Joseph Manton

Joseph Manton was a much celebrated British gunsmith who was to revolutionise sport shooting, vastly improve the quality of weapons and father the modern artillery shell. Joseph was also a keen sports shooter in his own right and a friend of the celebrated "sportsman" Colonel Peter Hawker.Kings Of...

's design.

Shaw returned to England in 1833 with his new design for cannon locks. His invention was adopted by both the British and the Russians.

By the time Shaw died in 1860 he was well-known and respected in America as a member of the Franklin Institute

Franklin Institute

The Franklin Institute is a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one of the oldest centers of science education and development in the United States, dating to 1824. The Institute also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.-History:On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughn Merrick and...

; in addition to being an artist and scientist he was a prolific writer.