Percy Shaw invented the Catseye road reflecting stud. His only extravagance was his Rolls Royce.
Percy Shaw, Born 1890
inventor of catseye road reflecting studs
Percy Shaw grew up in a family of thirteen children in Boothtown, near Halifax in Yorkshire. His father was a dyer’s labourer in a local wollen mill. Percy Shaw left school aged 13, and worked first as a labourer. He soon realised there was no future in the heavy repetitive work, so he learned shorthand and bookkeeping and got a job in a factory office. He then worked in several industries and learned welding and machine-tool making; one job was in a carpet factory and he invented a way to provide rubber backings, foreshadowing the foam-backed carpet. He developed a business with his father repairing mangles, servicing cars, and laying tarmac. Driving home after dark, he noticed that the reflection of his headlights from the tramlines gave a good indication of the line of the road. One night, on a familiar but dangerous stretch of road, the tramlines had been taken up for repair, and his best idea came to him - why not put reflectors along the road?
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