author
William Arthur Shaw
1865–1943
Best known for turning dense Treasury records into readable history, this English historian and archivist wrote deeply about seventeenth-century England, public finance, and the workings of government. His books remain useful for readers interested in how politics, religion, and money shaped the period.
1 Audiobook
The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896
by William Arthur Shaw
About the author
Born in Lancashire in 1865, William Arthur Shaw was an English historian and archivist who built his reputation through meticulous work with official records. He studied at Owens College, Manchester, and later became closely associated with the publication and editing of Treasury documents, bringing difficult archival material into print for other scholars.
His writing focused especially on seventeenth-century English history. He is remembered for works on the English church during the Civil Wars, on the financial history of England, and for editing collections of historical documents that helped later researchers study government, taxation, and administration in detail.
Shaw was also recognized by the wider scholarly world late in life, including election as a Fellow of the British Academy. He died in 1943, leaving behind a body of work valued less for literary flourish than for its care, precision, and lasting usefulness.