Early Biography, Westhoughton.

Dr Thomas Archibald Shaw had taken a placement as an assistant to Dr William Alfred Hatton in Westhoughton. Moving to 51 King Street with his wife Dorren, this small house was a short walk from the town centre, and his working relationship with Dr Hatton would also be short.

Local and national newspapers frequently wrote about Dr. Hatton, a respected figure in town and the surrounding region. In the 1900 Daily Express, you can read his recommendations for the ‘Marsuma’ brand of cigar and his endorsement for them: Dr W. A. Hatton MD. "I have smoked nothing but 'Marsuma' since they came out and have recommended them on every occasion."

An intriguing report about a mummified arm found by a plumber in 1931 while looking for a leaking pipe at Westhoughton Station links back to Hatton. This find, four years after his death, had been an arm identified by him in 1917. Mr. Scott, a friend of the doctor, had brought back the arm from Egypt. Whereupon they used it for ambulance practice work. When the ambulance class closed and the practice room became the Station house, they put the arm in a recess and then forgot it.

Hatton had been involved in the inquest held at the Carnegie Hall, Westhoughton, into the ‌December 21st, 1910, Pretoria Pit disaster explosion, where 344 men and boys had died. His testimony and a report handed to the inquest dealt with the cause of death and showed that carbon monoxide had been the biggest killer.

Years later while on holiday in the Welsh resort of Rhos-on-Sea, he became ill and died of pneumonia. He had been the Westhoughton doctor for 34 years.

His burial, attended by Dr Thomas, had a large gathering with the choir of ‌Westhoughton Parish singing.

This once-assistant position held by Thomas now became a position of the town and local area doctor. Dr. Hatton’s death at 60 had occurred in July 1927; a month later would see the birth at number 51 King Street on August 9th of Robert Shaw.

Thomas's family's accommodation in Westhoughton now as the resident doctor saw him locating into Hatton's old residence at Oaklea house along Bolton road. This also was the town surgery where the step that still sits outside the side door when looked at closely is still worded ‘Surgery’.

Dr Shaw’s use of a motorcar while going about his duties had been colourful. We see several reports of occurrences where a collision is had or a motoring offence happening.

A knock down of a pedestrian, driving without a permit to an unusual accident where a Dr Alexander Cox ended up in court accused of being drunk in charge of a vehicle, were all reported in the local newspapers. It was later discovered with Dr Cox attending court to be charged for drunkenness, that he had concussion caused by hitting his head upon a car windscreen after a night out with Thomas and his wife. The car Thomas had been driving had been following the tram lines due to poor visibility, only to suddenly come across a tram standard where a collision took place. A younger Thomas had also been stopped in 1923 for riding a motorcycle with insufficient brakes when he lived in St Austell.

Motoring may have been an achilles heel regarding Dr Shaw but as a sportsman he had no such downfalls. Robert would speak of his fathers sporting prowess as a young man in interviews. Talking to Hugh McIlvanny from The Guardian in 1968 on his own interest in sport he also listed his father’s sporting achievements. Fetching a photograph of the 1921 Guy’s Hospital boxing team from upstairs of Porch House, Robert points to a vested figure.

“You see, that’s the stock”. He continues “That’s my father, Thomas Archibald. Built very well. Says, winner, you see. Lightweights winner. He played for Guy’s Hospital and Gloucester at rugby. Had a trial for England, he did. He was a doctor. When we lived in the Orkneys sometimes the boat couldn’t get right into an island because of the weather and he would jump off and swim ashore. The Islanders loved that. He died when I was 11.”

This list followed Shaw’s own recollections of a try scored in Rugby that he was ever proud of.

“If my whole world were collapsing about my ears, if my career was ruined or something terrible had happened to one of the kids, I reckon I could still soothe myself to sleep thinking about a try I scored for Camborne against Redruth when I was 19”. Speaking of a trip to Cornwall he recalls. “When I went down to Cornwall recently someone said to me, “You’re not the Robert Shaw who scored that try against Redruth?” “What is there in film acting to compare with that sort of thing?” Intriguingly, this try is recalled by Ian Shaw, (Robert's son) and Joseph Nixon in their co-written play “The Shark is Broken” where Ian plays his father, playing Quint in the film Jaws.

Thomas' sporting competitiveness when living in Westhoughton saw him directing that energy playing for Bolton Union Rugby. Promoted into the first 15 squad, Dr Shaw would play against teams at Green Lane. No doubt Robert as a boy would watch his dad play against other teams in the area such as Wigan Mining College, Fylde, and Warrington.

Robert, now of an age to start school, saw him going to the White Horse infants’ school opposite his home at Oaklea house.

Gary Zabel, writing for ‘The Bolton News’ in 1978 interviewed people who knew the Shaw family while they lived on Bolton Road. They speak of Robert's childhood and about an early hint of his passion for acting. With his role as the swashbuckler Dan Tempest in the 1956 series The Buccaneers, Mr Harold Taylor of Bolton Road says.

“He used a cane for a sword and his victims were Sunday school children” he continues, “I taught at White Horse Sunday School, just across the road from the Shaw home. Mr Shaw was a very daring young lad and would often stand at the gate challenging pupils to a make believe sword fight”.

Mrs Nancy Ryley of Leigh Road Westhoughton remembers Robert Shaw as the little ruffian over the road.

“The Shaw family lived directly opposite us in Oaklea House in Bolton Road. And even at the age of five or six he was a real actor. One of his favorite tricks was parading. He used to get out of a second floor window of the house onto the roof of the bay window below complete with a topper and a stick and give us an impromptu performance. He was a born actor and I have fond memories of him”.

The former headmistress of White Horse School, Mrs Clara Pendlebury of King Street remembered him as a “lovely little lad. He was a very bright child. A fast learner and always very cheerful. He loved games and sports.”

Gary Zabel, sums up the article.

“His family left for the Orkneys when he was only seven but on a trip back to see his home in 1960, he was delighted to find the old tram his father bought him as a playroom still there.

The tram is still in use today as a potting shed. In a television interview Robert Shaw said one of his earliest recollections was lying in bed as the mill girls clattered past in their clogs singing, "Play to me Gypsy.”

Is the clog wearing Quint in Jaws, a homage to Lancashire?

Robert's time growing up in Westhoughton and the connection with his dad through sport came from a place first neutered from this Lancashire town. Where the playing of rugby brought a young Shaw and the older Shaw a commonality on the rugby field.

Throughout his life he kept this competitiveness. Sarah Miles who acted opposite him in ‘The Hireling’ talks of endless games of Ping Pong where she would win, only to be challenged again for another game. Off set filming The Hireling, he would also spend time in the local pub playing darts.

Richard Burton who he acted with in ‘Where Eagles Dare’ talked of, if they hadn't become actors they could have been playing rugby against each other for England and Wales, he dismissed this and said how it annoyed him.

“A lot of characters who should know better have sustained this myth that Richard could have been a great rugby-player, and now he seems to believe it himself. I suppose my chances would have been rather better than his. When I look around at the number of first class players in the country. I can’t really convince myself I’d have been an international”

His respect for competitive sport was hallowed ground. A revealing report he authored for ‘The Queen’ magazine in September 1960 on his trip to watch the Rome Olympics of that year, shows Shaw at sympathy with an athlete feeling the weight of defeat, where he is moved to tears. Watching the British long distance runner Gordon Pirie, he writes.

What I saw of Pirie in the 5,000 metres made me cry. There he was at last. He was one of the reasons I came and I hoped he’d run well. He ran a few laps with the leaders and then faltered. I have seen him run often. I knew something was wrong right away. When he’s confident he runs slightly wide on the bends, seeming to hold himself back till “the moment of truth”. My American friend said to me comfortingly something like: “He’s not beaten yet.” But I knew he was. Later in the race when he was trailing I wished he would stop, lie down and rest. He looked so defeated. But he didn’t. He kept on, determined to finish seemingly because he felt that was the thing to do. And yet only a month before in England he was running like an angel. I don’t know him. I suspect three-quarters of what I read about him. I’ve never felt so much sympathy for an athlete as I did for Pirie that evening. What must it be like? Talk about a symbol! There he was carrying his county’s hopes and his own. A dedicated man who, I suppose, drove himself too far.

Robert would revisit his once family home Oaklea House in 1960. With a recording of an ITV play titled ‘A Place of My Own’ being recorded in Manchester he took the opportunity to visit Westhoughton. A report in Bolton News June 9th, 1960, speaks of this return. “As the recording of ‘A Place of My Own’ was done in Manchester, Mr Pringle was able to have his son and Mr Shaw with him at St Bede’s vicarage for a few hours. During that time, an opportunity was found to show Robert Shaw his old home, Oaklea, Bolton Road Westhoughton, which he had not seen since he was seven years old, when the family left it for the Orkneys (afterwards they moved to Cornwall). Oaklea has now become two houses and most of its garden has been built over, but Mr Shaw was delighted to find that the old tram his father bought as a playroom for his children is still there, thought today it functions as a potting shed.”