William Shirley
Encyclopedia
William Shirley was a British colonial administrator who served twice as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
(1741–1749 and 1753–1756) and as Governor of the Bahamas in the 1760s. For a few months he also gained experience as a military commander serving as Commander-in-Chief, North America
.
in East Sussex
, England. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge
then read law
at the Inner Temple
in London. In 1717 his grandfather died, and he inherited Ote Hall and some funds, which he used to purchase a clerkship in London. About the same time he married Frances Barker, with whom he had a large number of children. He was called to the bar in 1720. Although his inheritance had been substantial (about £10,000), he cultivated an expensive lifestyle, and suffered significant financial reverses in the depression of 1721. The financial demands of his large family (he and Frances had eight children by 1731) prompted him to seek an appointment in the North American colonies. His family was connected by marriage to the Duke of Newcastle, who became an important patron and sponsor of Shirley's advancement. Armed with letters of introduction from Newcastle and others (but no appointment), Shirley arrived in Boston
in 1731.
His early government jobs included that of surveyor and King's Advocate for New England. He was appointed a commissioner in the boundary dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island
in 1741. During the later years of the contentious reign of Governor Jonathan Belcher
, Shirley made common cause with Belcher's enemies to promote himself as a successor to Belcher. Assisted by his wife, who worked in England on his behalf, a group of New England interests opposed to Belcher succeeded in orchestrating Belcher's recall, and Shirley's appointment as governor in 1741. His early efforts to influence the financial policy of the legislature and induce them to grant him a regular salary were unsuccessful.
from France in Queen Anne's War
, but the Treaty of Utrecht
left Cape Breton Island
in French hands, and did not clearly demarcate a boundary between New France
and the British colonies of the Atlantic coast. To protect the crucial passageway of the Saint Lawrence River
into the heart of New France, France built a strong fortress at Louisbourg
on Cape Breton Island.
Britain went to war against Spain (the War of Jenkins' Ear
) in the early 1740s, but France was not involved at first. France declared war against Britain in 1744, and forces from Louisbourg raided
the British fishing port of Canso
on the northern end of mainland Nova Scotia
before its residents were aware they were at war.
French privateer
s immediately began preying on British and colonial vessels. The colonies in New England
successfully fought back with colonial guard ship
s and privateers. John Bradstreet
, who had been captured at Canso and held prisoner at Louisbourg, returned to New England in a prisoner exchange. Bradstreet's report to Governor Shirley emphasised the weaknesses of Louisbourg. William Vaughn, who owned several businesses in Maine
that were vulnerable to raids from New France, toured New England advocating an expedition to capture Louisbourg. Governor Shirley and other leaders in New England and New York looked towards Britain to supply most of the military and naval forces for the expedition. Vaughn and Bradstreet wanted to attack Louisbourg that winter with an all-American force. Shirley doubted the practicality of that plan, but in January 1745 submitted it to the Massachusetts General Court
, which declined to support the plan, but did request that Britain undertake an attack on Louisbourg.
William Vaughn continued advocating for a quick all-American expedition, enlisting the support of fishing captains, merchants and 200 "principal gentlemen" of Boston. Governor Shirley called the General Court into session again, and the proposal was submitted to a committee chaired by William Pepperrell
. The committee reported favourably on the plan and it was approved by one vote when several opponents were not present.
Governor Shirley appointed a reluctant William Pepperrell to command the expedition, William Vaughn was appointed colonel, but without a command position, and John Bradstreet was appointed as a military advisor to Pepperrell. Shirley requested support for the expedition from Peter Warren, commodore of the Royal Navy
squadron in the West Indies, but Warren declined due to the strenuous objections of his captains. Despite the absence of support from the Royal Navy, the New England expedition set out in March 1745 for Louisbourg. More than 4,000 men on more than 90 transports (mainly fishing boats and coastal traders), escorted by half-a-dozen colonial guard ships, descended on Canso, where the expedition waited for the ice to clear from Gabarus Bay, the site near Louisbourg that had been chosen for the troop landing. Starting on 22 April the expedition was joined by four Royal Navy warships under the command of Commodore Warren. Shirley had also contacted the Duke of Newcastle seeking support for the attack on Louisbourg, and Newcastle had sent orders that gave Warren the flexibility to take part of his squadron to support the New England forces.
, and British sailors on shore leave
bragged to the Americans about how rich they were going to be from their shares.
The American troops had signed up to capture Louisbourg, and expected to go home after siege ended. The British government, who had believed that the American troops were incapable of capturing Louisbourg on their own, had made no plans to send British troops to take over occupation of the fortress. As it become evident that British troops would not arrive to relieve the Americans until after winter had passed, Governor Shirley travelled to Louisbourg to reassure the troops. His first speech to the troops had little effect, and some troops were close to mutiny. In a second speech Shirley promised to send home more troops immediately, and provide higher pay and better supplies for those who stayed until spring. Honors from the British government were sparse; Pepperrell was made a baronet
, and he and Shirley were made colonel
s in the British Army
with the right to raise their own regiments, and Warren was raised to rear admiral
.
was a long standing practice in Britain, but its application in America was resisted by the colonists. In 1702 Fort William on Castle Island had fired on HMS Swift as it tried to leave Boston Harbor with six recently impressed men aboard. As a result of American complaints (reinforced by British merchants), Parliament in 1708 had banned impressment in the American colonies. The Royal Navy argued that the American exemption from impressment had been in force only during Queen Anne's War, which had ended in 1713. In practice, Royal Navy captains had to apply to colonial governors for a license to press men. In late November 1745 a fight between a press gang and some sailors staying in a boarding house in Boston left two of the sailors with fatal injuries. Two members of the press gang were charged with murder and convicted, but were released when the indictment was found invalid.
Two years later Commodore Charles Knowles, who had served as Governor of Louisbourg after its capture, had a large number of seaman from Boston harbour impressed for service in his squadron. A mob of more than 300 men seized three naval officers and a deputy sheriff and beat the sheriff. The mob then went to Governor Shirley's house, demanding the release of the men impressed by Knowles. Shirley tried to call out the militia, but they did not respond. Shirley did succeed in getting the naval officers into his house, and the mob eventually left. Later in the day Shirley went to the Town House. The mob, now consisting of several thousand people, attacked the Town House, breaking many windows in the building. Shirley spoke to the mob and promised to present their demands to Commodore Knowles. The mob left, intending to find a Royal Navy ship to burn.
After Shirley had returned home that afternoon, the mob, which had seized another naval officer and several petty officers, returned to his house. Shirley ordered a number of armed men who were protecting his house to fire at the mob, but William Pepperrell was able to stop Shirley's men from firing and to persuade the mob to leave. In the meantime, Commodore Knowles threatened to bombard Boston with his squadron. It was only after the Massachusetts Council adopted resolutions in support of the demands of the mob that the situation became quieter in Boston. Eventually the mob released its hostages and Knowles released the impressed seamen.
edited and Gamaliel Rogers and Daniel Fowle
published The Independent Advertiser
, which regularly criticised the British government and Shirley's administration. The paper published several of Shirley's letters to officials in Britain that were critical of Americans, and regularly called for Shirley's removal from office. William Douglass
, a prominent physician in Boston, wrote a series of pamphlets (published by Rogers and Fowle) attacking Governor Shirley, Commodore Knowles and the whole conduct of the campaign against and occupation of Louisbourg. Both Shirley and Knowles sued Douglass for libel, but lost their cases in court.
, favoured using the compensation to redeem the paper currency and give Massachusetts on a hard currency
. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
returned the Fortress of Louibourg to France. Britain continued to withhold compensation from the colonies to obtain their acquiescence in the loss of what had cost them so dearly to capture.
In the meantime, Governor Shirley had been trying to finance a campaign to capture Fort St. Frédéric
(at present-day Crown Point
, New York), for which he issued more paper money. The campaign was abandoned when the other colones failed to support it, but the resulting inflation helped turn supporters of Shirley, including the prominent merchant Samuel Waldo, against the governor. The loss of Louisbourg increase public dissatisfaction with Shirley, who seen as complicit in British scheming against the American colonies. Even William Pepperrell joined the large number of citizens calling for Shirley's removal. Feeling a need to defend himself in person against the complaints being sent to the British government, Shirley sailed for Britain in September, 1749, just before the long promised compensation reached Boston.
were sent to America. Braddock named Shirley as his second in command, with an assignment to attack Fort Niagara
, while Braddock lead his regiments against Fort Duquesne
.
on 13 July 1755, with whom Shirley's son William was killed, Shirley was made temporary commander-in-chief of North American forces in addition to his position as Governor of Massachusetts. During this time his troops supported Charles Lawrence in the Great Expulsion, the forcible removal of more than 12,000 Acadians from Nova Scotia
. When some of the ships carrying the Acadians entered Boston Harbor
in early December 1755, Shirley ordered that they not disembark. For three winter months, until March 1756, the Acadians remained on the ships, where half died from the cold weather and malnutrition.
Shirley's management of the war in 1755 and 1756 was a failure. His expedition against Fort Niagara
got no further than the final staging point at Fort Oswego
on Lake Ontario
in 1755, and the French captured Oswego in August 1756. He was also embroiled in a power struggle with Sir William Johnson
, the newly appointed crown superintendent of Indian affairs, over military administration and the management of Indian affairs. Johnson's partisans were successful first in engineering his dismissal as commander-in-chief, and then in getting him recalled to England on charges that he had let critical military information get into enemy hands. On 31 March 1756, the Secretary of War replaced him as commander-in-chief and ordered him to return to England.
and assumed the reigns of power.Due to delays involved in preparing his commission, instructions, and other documents, and his lengthy journey, many histories give diverging dates for the start of his rule. His rule was quiet; dealing with smugglers in the islands was the major issue demanding the governor's attention. In part to combat illicit trade he lobbied the London government that Nassau be established as a free port
. Although he was influential in this regard, Nassau was not opened until after he left office. He also oversaw renovations to the governor's mansion, and promoted the construction of churches with funding from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
. In 1765, after his wife's death, he took his children to England so that they could be properly cared for. He returned to the islands, where he had to deal with protests of the recently enacted Stamp Act
. When he proposed the use of the stamps on official documents to the local assembly, the reaction was so visceral that Shirley dissolved the body. By the time the next assembly met, the Stamp Act had been repealed.
His health failing, he was finally replaced as governor by his son Thomas
, who was appointed in November 1767 and arrived to assume office the following year. Shirley sailed for Boston, where he took up residence in his old house in Roxbury with his daughter and son-in-law. There he died on 24 March 1771. After a state funeral, he was interred in King's Chapel
.
Shirley was always a strong supporter of the Crown. On 15 Aug. 1755, he secretly wrote to his superior in London that it would be relatively easy to forestall any threat that the American colonies would declare independence.
in the British army, created a baronet
in 1786, and was, after his posting to the Bahamas, governor of Dominica
and of the Leeward Islands
. Another son, William Jr., was killed in 1755 at the Battle of the Monongahela
whilst serving with the Braddock Expedition
. Shirley's daughter Anne married the Hon. John Erving, loyalist Governor of Boston, and a member of His Majesty's Council for the Province; their daughter Anne Erving married Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal
a Boston Loyalist and son of the Jacobite rebel Charles Stewart, and bore him ten children.
He built a family home in Roxbury
between 1747 and 1751. He sold it to his daughter and son-in-law, Eliakim Hutchinson, in 1763. Now known as the Shirley-Eustis House
, it still stands at 33 Shirley Street. It has largely been restored and is open to the public.
The town of Shirley, Massachusetts
was founded during his term as Massachusetts governor. The Winthrop, Massachusetts
geographical feature Shirley Point and the former feature Shirley Gut are named for him. Shirley helped to establish a cod fishery in Winthrop in 1753.
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
(1741–1749 and 1753–1756) and as Governor of the Bahamas in the 1760s. For a few months he also gained experience as a military commander serving as Commander-in-Chief, North America
Commander-in-Chief, North America
The office of Commander-in-Chief, North America was a military position of the British Army. Established in 1755 in the early years of the Seven Years' War, holders of the post were generally responsible for land-based military personnel and activities in and around those parts of North America...
.
Early life
William Shirley was the son of William and Elizabeth Godman Shirley, and was born on 2 December 1694, at Preston ManorPreston Manor, Brighton
Preston Manor is the former manor house of the ancient Sussex village of Preston, now part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove, England. The present building dates mostly from 1738, when Lord of the manor Thomas Western rebuilt the original 13th-century structure , and 1905 when Charles...
in East Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, England. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...
then read law
Reading law
Reading law is the method by which persons in common law countries, particularly the United States, entered the legal profession before the advent of law schools. This usage specifically refers to a means of entering the profession . A small number of U.S...
at the Inner Temple
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in London. In 1717 his grandfather died, and he inherited Ote Hall and some funds, which he used to purchase a clerkship in London. About the same time he married Frances Barker, with whom he had a large number of children. He was called to the bar in 1720. Although his inheritance had been substantial (about £10,000), he cultivated an expensive lifestyle, and suffered significant financial reverses in the depression of 1721. The financial demands of his large family (he and Frances had eight children by 1731) prompted him to seek an appointment in the North American colonies. His family was connected by marriage to the Duke of Newcastle, who became an important patron and sponsor of Shirley's advancement. Armed with letters of introduction from Newcastle and others (but no appointment), Shirley arrived in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
in 1731.
His early government jobs included that of surveyor and King's Advocate for New England. He was appointed a commissioner in the boundary dispute between Massachusetts and Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
in 1741. During the later years of the contentious reign of Governor Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...
, Shirley made common cause with Belcher's enemies to promote himself as a successor to Belcher. Assisted by his wife, who worked in England on his behalf, a group of New England interests opposed to Belcher succeeded in orchestrating Belcher's recall, and Shirley's appointment as governor in 1741. His early efforts to influence the financial policy of the legislature and induce them to grant him a regular salary were unsuccessful.
The road to Louisbourg
Britain captured AcadiaAcadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
from France in Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
, but the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
left Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
in French hands, and did not clearly demarcate a boundary between New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
and the British colonies of the Atlantic coast. To protect the crucial passageway of the Saint Lawrence River
Saint Lawrence River
The Saint Lawrence is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin...
into the heart of New France, France built a strong fortress at Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...
on Cape Breton Island.
Britain went to war against Spain (the War of Jenkins' Ear
War of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, relates to Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship, who exhibited his severed ear in...
) in the early 1740s, but France was not involved at first. France declared war against Britain in 1744, and forces from Louisbourg raided
Raid on Canso
The Raid on Canso was an attack by French forces from Louisbourg on the British outpost of Canso, Nova Scotia shortly after war declarations opened King George's War. The French raid was intended to boost morale, secure Louisbourg's supply lines with the surrounding Acadian settlements, and deprive...
the British fishing port of Canso
Canso, Nova Scotia
For the headland, see Cape Canso.Canso is a small Canadian town in Guysborough County, on the north-eastern tip of mainland Nova Scotia, next to Chedabucto Bay. The area was established in 1604, along with Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The British construction of a fort in the village , was instrumental...
on the northern end of mainland Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
before its residents were aware they were at war.
French privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s immediately began preying on British and colonial vessels. The colonies in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
successfully fought back with colonial guard ship
Guard ship
A guard ship is a warship stationed at some port or harbour to act as a guard, and in former times in the Royal Navy to receive the men impressed for service...
s and privateers. John Bradstreet
John Bradstreet
Major General John Bradstreet was a British Army officer during the French and Indian War, King George's War, and Pontiac's Rebellion...
, who had been captured at Canso and held prisoner at Louisbourg, returned to New England in a prisoner exchange. Bradstreet's report to Governor Shirley emphasised the weaknesses of Louisbourg. William Vaughn, who owned several businesses in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
that were vulnerable to raids from New France, toured New England advocating an expedition to capture Louisbourg. Governor Shirley and other leaders in New England and New York looked towards Britain to supply most of the military and naval forces for the expedition. Vaughn and Bradstreet wanted to attack Louisbourg that winter with an all-American force. Shirley doubted the practicality of that plan, but in January 1745 submitted it to the Massachusetts General Court
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
, which declined to support the plan, but did request that Britain undertake an attack on Louisbourg.
William Vaughn continued advocating for a quick all-American expedition, enlisting the support of fishing captains, merchants and 200 "principal gentlemen" of Boston. Governor Shirley called the General Court into session again, and the proposal was submitted to a committee chaired by William Pepperrell
William Pepperrell
Sir William Pepperrell, 1st Baronet was a merchant and soldier in Colonial Massachusetts. He is widely remembered for organizing, financing, and leading the 1745 expedition that captured the French garrison at Fortress Louisbourg during King George's War...
. The committee reported favourably on the plan and it was approved by one vote when several opponents were not present.
Governor Shirley appointed a reluctant William Pepperrell to command the expedition, William Vaughn was appointed colonel, but without a command position, and John Bradstreet was appointed as a military advisor to Pepperrell. Shirley requested support for the expedition from Peter Warren, commodore of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
squadron in the West Indies, but Warren declined due to the strenuous objections of his captains. Despite the absence of support from the Royal Navy, the New England expedition set out in March 1745 for Louisbourg. More than 4,000 men on more than 90 transports (mainly fishing boats and coastal traders), escorted by half-a-dozen colonial guard ships, descended on Canso, where the expedition waited for the ice to clear from Gabarus Bay, the site near Louisbourg that had been chosen for the troop landing. Starting on 22 April the expedition was joined by four Royal Navy warships under the command of Commodore Warren. Shirley had also contacted the Duke of Newcastle seeking support for the attack on Louisbourg, and Newcastle had sent orders that gave Warren the flexibility to take part of his squadron to support the New England forces.
Siege of Louisbourg
The more than 4,000 troops from New England started landing on Cape Breton Island on 30 April and laid siege to the Fortress of Louisbourg while the British ships blockaded the harbour. The Americans began suffering battle losses, while the British naval officers, who had a low opinion of American soldiers, grew increasingly critical of the American efforts. Warren tried to exert control over the American army, but Pepperrell resisted him. Louisbourg surrendered on 17 June. The Americans lost 180 men in combat, to disease or at sea during the siege, while the Royal Navy ships had not fired a shot at the fortress, and lost just one sailor. As the victors settled into occupation of Louisbourg, friction grew between the Americans and the British. The terms of surrender guaranteed the French in all of their possessions; there was no plunder for the American troops. On the other hand, the Royal Navy had captured several rich French prizesPrize (law)
Prize is a term used in admiralty law to refer to equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of prize in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and its cargo as a prize of war. In the past, it was common that the capturing force would be allotted...
, and British sailors on shore leave
Shore leave
Shore leave is the leave that professional sailors get to spend on dry land. It is culturally infamous for its excess. Sailors without family obligations and with basic lodging needs provided aboard ship may spend their wages for the journey in a brief period of extravagance ashore and return to...
bragged to the Americans about how rich they were going to be from their shares.
The American troops had signed up to capture Louisbourg, and expected to go home after siege ended. The British government, who had believed that the American troops were incapable of capturing Louisbourg on their own, had made no plans to send British troops to take over occupation of the fortress. As it become evident that British troops would not arrive to relieve the Americans until after winter had passed, Governor Shirley travelled to Louisbourg to reassure the troops. His first speech to the troops had little effect, and some troops were close to mutiny. In a second speech Shirley promised to send home more troops immediately, and provide higher pay and better supplies for those who stayed until spring. Honors from the British government were sparse; Pepperrell was made a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, and he and Shirley were made colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
s in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
with the right to raise their own regiments, and Warren was raised to rear admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
.
A new campaign
In 1746, as the American occupation troops were finally able to return home from Louisbourg, the British government decided to attack Canada that year. Word of the plans did not reach officials in America until after the attack was supposed to be launched. Close to 8,000 American troops were quickly recruited. Late in the year the Americans learned that the British government had decided to cancel the attack on Canada.Impressment crisis
While Governor Shirley was at Louisbourg trouble had been brewing between the Royal Navy and the population of Boston. The Navy had long sought to press Americans into service on its ships. ImpressmentImpressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
was a long standing practice in Britain, but its application in America was resisted by the colonists. In 1702 Fort William on Castle Island had fired on HMS Swift as it tried to leave Boston Harbor with six recently impressed men aboard. As a result of American complaints (reinforced by British merchants), Parliament in 1708 had banned impressment in the American colonies. The Royal Navy argued that the American exemption from impressment had been in force only during Queen Anne's War, which had ended in 1713. In practice, Royal Navy captains had to apply to colonial governors for a license to press men. In late November 1745 a fight between a press gang and some sailors staying in a boarding house in Boston left two of the sailors with fatal injuries. Two members of the press gang were charged with murder and convicted, but were released when the indictment was found invalid.
Two years later Commodore Charles Knowles, who had served as Governor of Louisbourg after its capture, had a large number of seaman from Boston harbour impressed for service in his squadron. A mob of more than 300 men seized three naval officers and a deputy sheriff and beat the sheriff. The mob then went to Governor Shirley's house, demanding the release of the men impressed by Knowles. Shirley tried to call out the militia, but they did not respond. Shirley did succeed in getting the naval officers into his house, and the mob eventually left. Later in the day Shirley went to the Town House. The mob, now consisting of several thousand people, attacked the Town House, breaking many windows in the building. Shirley spoke to the mob and promised to present their demands to Commodore Knowles. The mob left, intending to find a Royal Navy ship to burn.
After Shirley had returned home that afternoon, the mob, which had seized another naval officer and several petty officers, returned to his house. Shirley ordered a number of armed men who were protecting his house to fire at the mob, but William Pepperrell was able to stop Shirley's men from firing and to persuade the mob to leave. In the meantime, Commodore Knowles threatened to bombard Boston with his squadron. It was only after the Massachusetts Council adopted resolutions in support of the demands of the mob that the situation became quieter in Boston. Eventually the mob released its hostages and Knowles released the impressed seamen.
Public criticism
Governor Shirley had become very unpopular. Samuel AdamsSamuel Adams
Samuel Adams was an American statesman, political philosopher, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. As a politician in colonial Massachusetts, Adams was a leader of the movement that became the American Revolution, and was one of the architects of the principles of American...
edited and Gamaliel Rogers and Daniel Fowle
Daniel Fowle (printer)
Daniel Fowle was an American printer before and during the American Revolution, and the founder of The New Hampshire Gazette. Fowle, a native of Boston, Massachusetts, was an active printer in the city beginning in 1740...
published The Independent Advertiser
The Independent Advertiser
The Independent Advertiser was an American patriot publication, founded in 1748 in Boston by the then 26-year old Samuel Adams, advocating republicanism, liberty and independence from Great Britain. Published by Gamaliel Rogers and Daniel Fowle, the Advertiser consisted primarily of essays written...
, which regularly criticised the British government and Shirley's administration. The paper published several of Shirley's letters to officials in Britain that were critical of Americans, and regularly called for Shirley's removal from office. William Douglass
William Douglass (physician)
William Douglass was a physician in 18th-century Boston, Massachusetts, who wrote pamphlets on medicine, economics and politics that were often polemical.-Personal life:...
, a prominent physician in Boston, wrote a series of pamphlets (published by Rogers and Fowle) attacking Governor Shirley, Commodore Knowles and the whole conduct of the campaign against and occupation of Louisbourg. Both Shirley and Knowles sued Douglass for libel, but lost their cases in court.
Compensation and currency
Another issue of contention was compensation to the American colonies by Britain for the costs of the expedition against Louisbourg and the long occupation by American troops until the British Army finally took over. The British government was slow in responding to American requests for compensation While waiting for a response, the question of how to use any compensation was debated in newspapers and pamphlets. Some, such as Samuel Adams, advocated placing the money in London banks to serve as backing for the paper currency issued by the colonies. Others, including William Douglas and Thomas Hutchinson, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of RepresentativesMassachusetts House of Representatives
The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
, favoured using the compensation to redeem the paper currency and give Massachusetts on a hard currency
Hard currency
Hard currency , in economics, refers to a globally traded currency that is expected to serve as a reliable and stable store of value...
. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)
The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle of 1748 ended the War of the Austrian Succession following a congress assembled at the Imperial Free City of Aachen—Aix-la-Chapelle in French—in the west of the Holy Roman Empire, on 24 April 1748...
returned the Fortress of Louibourg to France. Britain continued to withhold compensation from the colonies to obtain their acquiescence in the loss of what had cost them so dearly to capture.
In the meantime, Governor Shirley had been trying to finance a campaign to capture Fort St. Frédéric
Fort St. Frédéric
Fort St. Frédéric was a French fort built on Lake Champlain at Crown Point to secure the region against British colonization and to allow the French to control the use of Lake Champlain....
(at present-day Crown Point
Crown Point, New York
Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 2,119 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, "Point au Chevalure."...
, New York), for which he issued more paper money. The campaign was abandoned when the other colones failed to support it, but the resulting inflation helped turn supporters of Shirley, including the prominent merchant Samuel Waldo, against the governor. The loss of Louisbourg increase public dissatisfaction with Shirley, who seen as complicit in British scheming against the American colonies. Even William Pepperrell joined the large number of citizens calling for Shirley's removal. Feeling a need to defend himself in person against the complaints being sent to the British government, Shirley sailed for Britain in September, 1749, just before the long promised compensation reached Boston.
Paris and return
After defending himself against his American critics, Shirley was sent in 1750 to a peace conference in Paris. He was unsuccessful in an attempt to settle the boundary disputes between New England and French Canada to the American colonies benefit, and returned to London in 1752. While in Paris Shirley married his landlord's daughter, who was younger than several of his children. Shirley sought a new governorship, but was sent back to Massachusetts in 1753. He left his new wife in England. The opposition in Massachusetts to Shirley had died down while he was in England and Paris. Shirley soon had to deal with the increasing comflict on the frontier with French Canada, planning an expedition in Maine. In 1755 two British regiments under General Edward BraddockEdward Braddock
General Edward Braddock was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for the 13 colonies during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War...
were sent to America. Braddock named Shirley as his second in command, with an assignment to attack Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.-Origin:...
, while Braddock lead his regiments against Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne
Fort Duquesne was a fort established by the French in 1754, at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in what is now downtown Pittsburgh in the state of Pennsylvania....
.
Seven Years War
Following the death of Edward BraddockEdward Braddock
General Edward Braddock was a British soldier and commander-in-chief for the 13 colonies during the actions at the start of the French and Indian War...
on 13 July 1755, with whom Shirley's son William was killed, Shirley was made temporary commander-in-chief of North American forces in addition to his position as Governor of Massachusetts. During this time his troops supported Charles Lawrence in the Great Expulsion, the forcible removal of more than 12,000 Acadians from Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. When some of the ships carrying the Acadians entered Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeast.-History:...
in early December 1755, Shirley ordered that they not disembark. For three winter months, until March 1756, the Acadians remained on the ships, where half died from the cold weather and malnutrition.
Shirley's management of the war in 1755 and 1756 was a failure. His expedition against Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara
Fort Niagara is a fortification originally built to protect the interests of New France in North America. It is located near Youngstown, New York, on the eastern bank of the Niagara River at its mouth, on Lake Ontario.-Origin:...
got no further than the final staging point at Fort Oswego
Fort Oswego
Fort Oswego was an important frontier post for British traders in the 18th century. A trading post was established in 1722 with a log palisade, and New York governor William Burnet ordered a fort built at the site in 1727. The log palisade fort established a British presence on the Great Lakes....
on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
in 1755, and the French captured Oswego in August 1756. He was also embroiled in a power struggle with Sir William Johnson
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet was an Anglo-Irish official of the British Empire. As a young man, Johnson came to the Province of New York to manage an estate purchased by his uncle, Admiral Peter Warren, which was located amidst the Mohawk, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League...
, the newly appointed crown superintendent of Indian affairs, over military administration and the management of Indian affairs. Johnson's partisans were successful first in engineering his dismissal as commander-in-chief, and then in getting him recalled to England on charges that he had let critical military information get into enemy hands. On 31 March 1756, the Secretary of War replaced him as commander-in-chief and ordered him to return to England.
Later life
Shirley was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in 1759. In late 1758 he was commissioned as Governor of the Bahamas. This was followed in early 1759 with a promotion to lieutenant general. After a lengthy passage, Shirley arrived in the Bahamas on 31 December, when his ship was wrecked on a reef in the islands. He eventually arrived without incident or injury at NassauNassau, Bahamas
Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
and assumed the reigns of power.Due to delays involved in preparing his commission, instructions, and other documents, and his lengthy journey, many histories give diverging dates for the start of his rule. His rule was quiet; dealing with smugglers in the islands was the major issue demanding the governor's attention. In part to combat illicit trade he lobbied the London government that Nassau be established as a free port
Free port
A free port or free zone , sometimes also called a bonded area is a port, port area or other area with relaxed jurisdiction with respect to the country of location...
. Although he was influential in this regard, Nassau was not opened until after he left office. He also oversaw renovations to the governor's mansion, and promoted the construction of churches with funding from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
USPG
The USPG or United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel is a 300-year-old Anglican missionary organization, formed originally as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts in 1701...
. In 1765, after his wife's death, he took his children to England so that they could be properly cared for. He returned to the islands, where he had to deal with protests of the recently enacted Stamp Act
Stamp Act 1765
The Stamp Act 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp...
. When he proposed the use of the stamps on official documents to the local assembly, the reaction was so visceral that Shirley dissolved the body. By the time the next assembly met, the Stamp Act had been repealed.
His health failing, he was finally replaced as governor by his son Thomas
Sir Thomas Shirley, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Shirley, 1st Baronet was a British colonial governor and military officer. The son of William Shirley, a politically well-connected colonial administrator who served for many years as governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Shirley entered the military, serving in the Louisbourg...
, who was appointed in November 1767 and arrived to assume office the following year. Shirley sailed for Boston, where he took up residence in his old house in Roxbury with his daughter and son-in-law. There he died on 24 March 1771. After a state funeral, he was interred in King's Chapel
King's Chapel
King's Chapel is "an independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association" that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in what was formerly called "Stone Chapel", an 18th century...
.
Shirley was always a strong supporter of the Crown. On 15 Aug. 1755, he secretly wrote to his superior in London that it would be relatively easy to forestall any threat that the American colonies would declare independence.
- "At all Events, they could not maintain such an Independency, without a Strong Naval Force, which it must forever be in the Power of Great Britain to hinder them from having: And whilst His Majesty hath 7000 Troops kept up within them, & in the Great Lakes upon the back of six of them, with the Indians at Command, it seems very easy, provided the Governors & principal Civil Officers are Independent of the Assemblies for their Subsistence, & commonly Vigilant, to prevent any Steps of that kind from being taken."
Family and legacy
His son Thomas was born in Boston and died in March 1800. He was a major generalMajor General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
in the British army, created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in 1786, and was, after his posting to the Bahamas, governor of Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
and of the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
. Another son, William Jr., was killed in 1755 at the Battle of the Monongahela
Battle of the Monongahela
The Battle of the Monongahela, also known as the Battle of the Wilderness, took place on 9 July 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War, at Braddock's Field in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh...
whilst serving with the Braddock Expedition
Braddock expedition
The Braddock expedition, also called Braddock's campaign or, more commonly, Braddock's Defeat, was a failed British military expedition which attempted to capture the French Fort Duquesne in the summer of 1755 during the French and Indian War. It was defeated at the Battle of the Monongahela on...
. Shirley's daughter Anne married the Hon. John Erving, loyalist Governor of Boston, and a member of His Majesty's Council for the Province; their daughter Anne Erving married Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal
Duncan Stewart of Ardsheal
Duncan Stewart was 10th Chief of the Clan Stewart of Appin and 6th of Ardsheal, and a friend of James Boswell. He was the eldest surviving son of Charles Stewart, 5th of Ardsheal, the Jacobite leader of the Clan at the Battle of Culloden, 16 April 1746, during the Jacobite Rising of 1745 and...
a Boston Loyalist and son of the Jacobite rebel Charles Stewart, and bore him ten children.
He built a family home in Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts
Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868...
between 1747 and 1751. He sold it to his daughter and son-in-law, Eliakim Hutchinson, in 1763. Now known as the Shirley-Eustis House
Shirley-Eustis House
The Shirley-Eustis House is a historic house located at 145 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts. It is a U.S. National Historic Landmark....
, it still stands at 33 Shirley Street. It has largely been restored and is open to the public.
The town of Shirley, Massachusetts
Shirley, Massachusetts
-Demographics:This article describes the town of Shirley as a whole. Additional demographic detail is available which describes only the central settlement or village within the town, although that detail is included in the aggregate values reported here...
was founded during his term as Massachusetts governor. The Winthrop, Massachusetts
Winthrop, Massachusetts
The Town of Winthrop is a municipality in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Winthrop was 17,497 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is an oceanside suburban community in Greater Boston situated at the north entrance to Boston Harbor and is very close to Logan International...
geographical feature Shirley Point and the former feature Shirley Gut are named for him. Shirley helped to establish a cod fishery in Winthrop in 1753.
Works
- Letter to the Duke of Newcastle, with a Journal of the Siege of Louisburg (1745)
- Conduct of Gen. William Shirley briefly stated (London, 1758)
External links
- Mass.gov has an official biography (visited 16 January 2009). The last page of the letter has an extensive biographical footnote by the editor.