Photograph of William Shirley.
William Shirley

Overview

William Shirley (December 2, 1694 – March 24, 1771) was the British governor of Massachusetts from 1741 to 1759. He was to son of William and Elizabeth Godman Shirley, and was born on December 2, 1694 at Preston Manor in Sussex, England. He was educated at Cambridge then studied law in London before moving to Boston in 1731.

His early government jobs included that of surveyor and King's Advocate for New England. He was appointed the royal Governor in 1741. In 1744, he led a successful siege of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. He was commander-in-chief of North American forces, and with Charles Lawrence, the architect of the Great Expulsion, the forcible removal of more than 12,000 Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1755, an incident some historians consider one of the earliest examples of ethnic cleansing. On March 31, 1756 the Secretary of War replaced him as commander-in-chief and told him to return to England as soon as possible. He was later exonerated, and served as Governor of the Bahamas from 1761-1769.

He retired to live with his daughter and her husband (Eliakin Hutchinson) at the Roxbury house. He died there on March 24, 1771.
The Shirley House
He built a family home in Roxbury between 1744 and 1750. The Shirley-Eustis House still stands at 33 Shirley Street, has been largely restored, and is open to the public..

Footnotes

References

* O'Toole, Fintan, White Savage, William Johnson and the Invention of America, 2005, ISBN 0-374-28128-9
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That biography says:

From 1755 to 1758, the rangers served under a series of unsuccessful British commanders operating over the northern accesses to the English colonies: Major General William Johnson, William Shirley, Colonel William Haviland, Major General James Abercromby. The British could do no more than fight holding actions around Lake Champlain, Crown Point, Ticonderoga and the upper Hudson...

That biography says:

...During the French and Indian War, he joined the British Army Commissariat, where he became aide-de-camp to Governor William Shirley. He traveled to London in 1756 to testify on behalf of Shirley, who was facing charges of dereliction of duty...

That biography says:

...Adams stated, "Our invaluable charter secures to us all the English liberties, besides which we have some additional privileges which the common people there have not." Using the Charter as a guide, Adams and others demanded that royal governor William Shirley be removed from power. They argued that the royal governor should not be able to hold as much power in Massachusetts as he then did, since even the King in England was not given the same powers...
How is William Shirley connected to Edward Braddock? Tell the world.

That biography says:

In the winter of 1755, Governor Lawrence and Massachusetts Governor William Shirley, under a general British directive, made plans to deal with French "encroachments" on the frontier of the British North American colonies...
How is William Shirley connected to James Michael Curley? Tell the world.
How is William Shirley connected to Curtis Guild, Jr.? Tell the world.
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How is William Shirley connected to William Stoughton (Massachusetts)? Tell the world.
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This biography says:

...In 1744, he led a successful siege of Louisbourg, Nova Scotia. He was commander-in-chief of North American forces, and with Charles Lawrence, the architect of the Great Expulsion, the forcible removal of more than 12,000 Acadians from Nova Scotia in 1755, an incident some historians consider one of the earliest examples of ethnic cleansing...

That biography says:

...In 1753, he directed the settlement of European Protestants on the coast south of Halifax, Nova Scotia . the behest of Governor William Shirley of Massachusetts, he helped raise forces that under Robert Monckton captured the French Fort Beauséjour (near Sackville, New Brunswick) on June 16, 1755, and Lawrence's involvement with the expulsion of the Acadians was connected to a desire to maintain that conquest.

That biography says:

During King George's War in 1746 he was appointed surgeon to a regiment bound for Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia. He later served as surgeon in General William Shirley's regiment. Liking military service, in 1747 he traded his post as surgeon for that of a lieutenant...
How is William Shirley connected to John Endecott? Tell the world.
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