Thomas Shaw (1800?-1865?), wool expert, was born in Yorkshire, England. He started work as a woolsorter in boyhood, and later became a woolbuyer and preparer of wools for various manufacturers. His attention was early drawn to wools from Australia, and he noticed 'inexplicable' changes and deterioration in their quality. When, therefore, his employers, J. T. Simes & Co., London, who already recognized a time of crisis and of opportunity, responded to a request from Robert Campbell & Co., Sydney, for 'a competent person as buyer and sorter and instructor of sorters', Shaw arrived with his second son, Thomas, aged 15, in September 1843, determined 'to get as speedily as possible amongst sheep and try to … clear up this mystery which so much puzzled us'. Less