Henry Shaw (July 24, 1800 in Sheffield, England – August 25, 1889 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a businessman, amateur botanist in St. Louis, MO when it was a gateway city to the West. His businesses supplied residents, pioneers and others. Having made his fortune, he was able to retire at age 40, pursue his interest in botany, and used much of his fortune in philanthropy. He is best known as the founder of the Missouri Botanical Garden, but he also donated the land to the city for Tower Grove Park and oversaw its development. He donated funds to several other city institutions as well. Early life Shaw was born on July 24, 1800 in Sheffield, England, which had been a center of iron and steel manufacturing. Henry’s father, Joseph Shaw, had moved to Sheffield as a young man to open his own iron factory, along with a partner. The firm manufactured grates, fire irons and so forth. Henry was the oldest of four children in the family. He had two sisters, Sarah and Caroline, and a brother who died in infancy. Shaw received his primary school education in the village of Thone near his home in Sheffield. When he was about ten or eleven, he was transferred to the Mill Hill School near London. He studied at this boarding school for about six years, before returning home to Sheffield in 1816 or 1817. Shaw was taken out of school because of his father’s financial difficulties. While he had been away at school, his father’s business had come upon hard times. The family could no longer afford to send Henry to the expensive school with other children of the upper classes. But in his time at Mill Hill School, Shaw had gained the basic education of an English gentleman. He had studied the classics, learned some Latin and Greek, and studied French. He also studied mathematics and was introduced to the sciences. More importantly, he acquired the attitudes and outlook of an English gentleman, and a polish he would continue to have even after decades of life in the United States. Business career On his return to Sheffield, Shaw began to assist his father with the business. Searching for new markets, the elder Shaw turned his sights on the vast markets of the Americas. Iron and steel manufacturing in the former colonies was not as advanced as in England, and