DAME FLORA SHAW – LADY LUGARD
1852-1929
As a journalist Flora travelled the world reporting on Colonial affairs.
Born in Woolwich, one of 14 children of a Royal Artillery Capt. and his French wife. Flora wrote five novels
for children and worked as a journalist.
She was the first female section editor of The Times, Colonial editor 1893-1900, which made her the highest
paid female journalist at the time. She travelled daily up to London from Gomshall Station, in the 1890s
from her home at Abinger Hammer. In an article for the Times in 1897 she suggested ‘Nigeria’ would be a
better, shorter name for ‘Royal Niger Company Territories’.
In 1902 she married Frederick Lugard, and accompanied him in his role as Governer to Hong Kong and
Nigeria. She also spent time in the British Colonies such as South Africa, Australia and even the gold fields
of the American Klondike – exploring much of it by train – often describing her journeys in personal letters:
For example, a six-day train journey across Canada was ‘a land of clover and roses, […] the continuity of
which is only interrupted by noble waterways and by mountain ranges of magnificent proportions.’ She
recounted a tale to her sister, Lulu, of how on a train in Queensland, Australia, her dress caught fire in the
blistering heat and was only put out by her male companion grabbing the outer layer of her dress in his
hands to extinguish it, burning his hands in the process.”
Her enthusiasm for empire as an opportunity for emigration and investment, is distasteful to us nowadays.
But she was clearly a strong minded woman, perhaps with an English untouchable arrogance of the day,
often travelling alone on railways, often built on English expertise – and investment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flora_Shaw,_Lady_Lugard
https://www.britishempire.me.uk/flora-shaw.html
Journal of Victorian Culture https://jvc.oup.com/2021/01/14/flora-shaw
