Edmund Shaa, the son of John Shaa of Dukinfield, Cheshire, is said to have been born in the district of Mottram in Longdendale, Cheshire.^[1] He was the brother of Ralph Shaa, and the uncle of Sir John Shaa (died c. 1503), Lord Mayor of London in 1501. Lord Mayor of London.^[2] His granddaughter, Julian Browne, was the second wife of Sir John Mundy, Lord Mayor of London.

In 1450 Shaa was apprenticed to a London goldsmith, probably Robert Butler. He completed his apprenticeship in 1458, and in 1462 was appointed engraver to the Royal Mint at the Tower of London and Calais. He held the office for the next twenty years.^[2]

Shaa was mayor in interesting times. It is sometimes stated^[2] that Shaa's brother, Ralph Shaa, preached against the legitimacy of Edward IV's marriage and that Shaa (as mayor) offered the crown to Richard III.^[1] Shaa is a character in William Shakespeare's play Richard III. Sir John Shaa, the first 16th century Lord Mayor, was his nephew, while Sir William Browne (d. 3 June 1514), Lord Mayor in 1513, was his son-in-law. He was knighted in 1483.

Shaa made his will on 20 March 1488,^[3] and died 20 April 1488. He was buried in the Mercers' chapel in the church of St Thomas of Acon.^[2] In 1506 his son-in-law, Thomas Rich, was his surviving executor.^[4]

Amongst numerous legacies at his death was a sum to found a grammar school at Stockport, where his parents had been buried.^[2] He is commemorated by a Blue Plaque on Church Brow, Mottram.^[1]

Shaa married, by 1471, a wife named Julian (d. July 1494), whose surname is unknown, by whom he had a son and two daughters:^[3][5][6]

• Hugh Shaa, who died without issue.
• Margaret Shaa, who married a London mercer, Thomas Rich, the son of John Rich (d. 29 July 1458) by his wife Isabel, and grandson and heir of Richard Rich (d.1463-4), Sheriff of London in 1441.^{[7][8][9][10]} Margaret Shaa's husband, Thomas Rich, was alive in 1506,^[4] but had died by 1513; in the will of Margaret's brother-in-law, Sir William Browne, dated 29 May 1513, she is described as 'Margaret Riche, widow'.^[6]
• Katherine Shaa, who after her father's death married Sir William Browne (d. 3 June 1514), Lord Mayor of London in 1513, son and heir of Sir John Browne, Lord Mayor of London in 1480, and cousin of Sir William Browne, Lord Mayor of London in 1507. By Sir William Browne, Katherine had a son, William. After the death of Katherine (née Shaa), Sir William Browne married Alice Keble, the daughter of Henry Keble, Lord Mayor of London in 1510, by whom he had two sons, John and Matthew, and two daughters, Anna and Elizabeth.^[11]

• List of Sheriffs of the City of London
• List of Lord Mayors of London

• Brown, James Roberts (1888). "Jno. and Wm. Browne, Sheriffs and Lord Mayors of London". Notes and Queries. 7th. V. London: John C. Francis: 151–3. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
• Collins, Arthur (1756). The Peerage of England. Vol. II (3rd ed.). London: W. Innys and J. Richardson. pp. 233–4. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
• Condon, M.M. (2004). "Bray, Sir Reynold (c.1440–1503)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3295. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Metcalfe, Walter C., ed. (1878). The Visitations of Essex. Vol. XIII. London: Harleian Society. pp. 276–7. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
• Middleton, Thomas (1906). "Sir Edmund Shaa". Legends of Longdendale. Hyde: Fred Higham. pp. 49–54. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
• Nicolas, Nicholas Harris (1826). Testamenta Vetusta. Vol. I. London: Nichols and Son. pp. 299, 339. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
• Fretton, William George (1890). Sharpe, Reginald R. (ed.). Calendar of Wills Proved and Enrolled in the Court of Husting, London, A.D. 1258 – A.D. 1688, Part II. London: John Francis. pp. 611–12, 617, 639–41. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
• Tucker, P. (2004). "Shaw, Sir Edmund (d. 1488)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25248. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Weever, John (1767). Antient Funeral Monuments. London: W. Tooke. p. 188. Retrieved 30 June 2013.

• Will of Sir Edmund Shaa, goldsmith and alderman and late mayor, of Saint Thomas Acres, City of London, proved June 1488, PROB 11/8/187, National Archives Retrieved 21 June 2013
• Will of Dame Julyan Shaa, widow, of Colchester, Essex, proved 20 July 1494, PROB 11/10/214, National Archives 22 June 2013
• Will of Hugh Shaa, proved 18 March 1492, PROB 11/8/657, National Archives Retrieved 21 June 2013
• Will of Sir John Shaa or Shaw, alderman and goldsmith, of Saint Thomas Acres, City of London, proved 13 May 1504, PROB 11/14/156, National Archives Retrieved 21 June 2013
• Will of William Browne, Alderman of Saint Thomas Acon, City of London, proved 1 July 1514, PROB 11/17/567, National Archives Retrieved 22 June 2013
• Will of Sir John Browne, Alderman of Saint Mary Magdalen Milk Street, City of London, proved 25 January 1498, PROB 11/11/307, National Archives Retrieved 22 June 2013
• Will of William Browne, alderman, of City of London, proved 6 June 1508, PROB 11/16/19, National Archives Retrieved 22 June 2013
• Will of Richard Riche, mercer, of Saint Lawrence, Old Jewry, London, proved 16 August 1464, PROB 11/5/84, National Archives Retrieved 30 June 2013
• Will of Thomas Ryche, mercer, of London, proved 4 October 1475, PROB 11/6/296, National Archives Retrieved 30 June 2013
• The Ancestry of Oliver Mainwaring: Shaa Archived 24 June 2013 at archive.today Retrieved 21 June 2013
• Thurrock Heritage Factfiles: 45 The Horndon Woolmarket Retrieved 21 June 2013
• Stockport Retrieved 22 June 2013