William Shirley - Later Life

Later Life

In late 1758 Shirley 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 Nassau and assumed the reigns of power. 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, the Nassau did not receive this status 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 in opposition was so visceral that Shirley dissolved the body. By the time the next assembly met, the Stamp Act had been repealed.

His health failing, Shirley was eventually 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 Boston's King's Chapel.

Shirley was always a strong supporter of the Crown. On 15 Aug. 1755, he 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."