SHIRLEY, WILLIAM 7 7 I ) , colonial governor of Massachusetts, was born at Preston in Sussex, England, on Dec. 2, 1694. He studied law, entered the Middle Temple, emigrated to Massachusetts in 1731, was appointed "the King's only advocate general in America" (i.e., of all New England except Connecticut) in 1734, and in 1741, while representing Massachusetts in a bound ary dispute with Rhode Island, was appointed governor. The most important event of his administration was the conquest of Louisburg in 1745. The expedition was undertaken on his sugges tion and its success was largely due to his energy and enthusiasm. In Sept. £183,650 (English) in coin was brought to Boston to cover the outlay of Massachusetts, and largely through Shir ley's influence this was used for the redemption of outstanding paper money, thus re-establishing the finances of the province, a subject to which Shirley had given much attention.
Both in the colonies and in England, whither he returned in 1749 on leave of absence, Shirley kept up an active agitation for the expulsion of the French from the whole of Canada. He went back to Massachusetts as governor in 1753; led an unsuccessful expedition against Ft. Niagara in 1755, and after the death of Gen. Edward Braddock (1755) until June 1756 was commander in-chief of all the British forces in America. In Sept. 1756 he was recalled to England and was succeeded as governor by Spencer Phips. He was governor of the Bahamas until 177o, then again returned to Massachusetts, and died at Roxbury, March 24, 1771. He published a Journal of the Siege of Louisbourg (1745), and The Conduct of General William Shirley Briefly Stated (1758).