Family and Legacy
His son Thomas became a major general in the British army, was created a baronet in 1786, and served, after his posting to the Bahamas, as governor of Dominica and of the Leeward Islands. He died in 1800. Another son, William Jr., was killed in 1755 at the Battle of the Monongahela whilst serving with Edward Braddock. Shirley's daughter Anne married the Hon. John Erving, loyalist Governor of Boston, and a member of the governor's council; their daughter Anne Erving married Duncan Stewart, 6th of Ardsheal a Boston Loyalist and son of the Jacobite rebel Charles Stewart,5th of Ardsheal, 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. Shirley is also the namesake of Shirley Street in Halifax, Nova Scotia (which is parallel to Pepperell Street, named after William Pepperell).
Read more about this topic: William Shirley
Famous quotes containing the words family and/or legacy:
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