Flora Louise Shaw, DBE (born 19 December 1852 – died 25 January 1929) was a British journalist and writer best known for coining the name “Nigeria.”
Shaw had close associations with three prominent figures of the British Empire in Africa: Cecil Rhodes, George Goldie, and Frederick Lugard.
On 10 June 1902, she married Sir Frederick Lugard, a colonial administrator who was created Baron Lugard in 1928. She accompanied him during his tenure as Governor of Hong Kong (1907–1912) and as Governor-General of Nigeria (1914–1919). The couple had no children.
In 1905, Shaw wrote a significant work titled *A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Soudan, With an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria* (published in London by Nisbet). This book remains a definitive history of Western Sudan and the modern settlement of Northern Nigeria.
While in Hong Kong, Shaw contributed to the establishment of the University of Hong Kong alongside her husband. During World War I, she played a key role in founding the War Refugees Committee, which addressed the issues faced by Belgian refugees, and she established the Lady Lugard Hospitality Committee. In recognition of her contributions, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours.
Flora Louise Shaw passed away from pneumonia on 25 January 1929, at the age of 76, in Surrey. Flora Louise Shaw, DBE (born 19 December 1852 – died 25 January 1929) was a British journalist and writer best known for coining the name “Nigeria.”
Shaw had close associations with three prominent figures of the British Empire in Africa: Cecil Rhodes, George Goldie, and Frederick Lugard.
On 10 June 1902, she married Sir Frederick Lugard, a colonial administrator who was created Baron Lugard in 1928. She accompanied him during his tenure as Governor of Hong Kong (1907–1912) and as Governor-General of Nigeria (1914–1919). The couple had no children.
In 1905, Shaw wrote a significant work titled *A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Soudan, With an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria* (published in London by Nisbet). This book remains a definitive history of Western Sudan and the modern settlement of Northern Nigeria.
While in Hong Kong, Shaw contributed to the establishment of the University of Hong Kong alongside her husband. During World War I, she played a key role in founding the War Refugees Committee, which addressed the issues faced by Belgian refugees, and she established the Lady Lugard Hospitality Committee. In recognition of her contributions, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours.
Flora Louise Shaw passed away from pneumonia on 25 January 1929, at the age of 76, in Surrey.
