 He was privately educated in Southampton and at Highgate School, followed by King's College London and King's College Hospital.From 1898 to 1914, he was one of the Commissioners in Lunacy, a UK public body established by the Lunacy Act 1845 to oversee the asylums and the general welfare of the mentally ill.

Shaw was also a Commissioner of the Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency.In 1918, he was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE).