page_title: William Shirley
section_title: Compensation and currency
hierarchical_section_title: William Shirley / Governor of Massachusetts / Compensation and currency
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Brigadier General Samuel Waldo
context_page_description: William Shirley was a British colonial administrator who was the longest-serving governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and then Governor of the Bahamas. He is best known for his role in organizing the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg during King George's War, and for his role in military affairs during the French and Indian War. He spent most of his years in the colonial administration of North America working to defeat New France, but his lack of formal military training led to political difficulties and his eventual downfall.
  Politically well connected, Shirley began his career in Massachusetts as advocate general in the admiralty court, and quickly became an opponent of Governor Jonathan Belcher. He joined with Belcher's other political enemies to bring about Belcher's recall, and was appointed Governor of Massachusetts Bay in Belcher's place. He successfully quieted political divisions within the province, and was able to bring about united action against New France when King George's War began in 1744. The successful Siege of Louisbourg, which Shirley had a major role in organizing, was one of the high points of his administration.
context_section_description: 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.  This presented Shirley with a problem, because the expedition's leaders, including his former ally Samuel Waldo, grossly inflated their claimed costs.  Waldo used Shirley's unwillingness to openly act against him to begin his own efforts to topple the governor.  Shirley was only able to forestall this effort by promising the colonial administration that he would achieve financial stability in the province by retiring its paper currency.
  The British government was also slow in responding to requests for compensation. While waiting for a response, the question of how to use any compensation was debated in provincial newspapers and pamphlets. Some, such as Samuel Adams (father of the famous American Revolution leader), advocated placing the money in London banks to serve as backing for the paper currency issued by the colonies. Others, including William Douglass and Thomas Hutchinson, speaker of the General Court, favoured using the compensation to redeem the paper currency and give Massachusetts a hard currency. In 1748 the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle returned Louibourg to France, with Massachusetts still awaiting compensation for its seizure.
  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 colonies failed to support it, but the resulting inflation helped turn supporters of Shirley against him. 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. Samuel Adams 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 the governor's removal. William Douglass, a prominent physician in Boston, wrote a series of pamphlets (published by Rogers and Fowle) attacking Shirley, Commodore Knowles, and the whole conduct of the campaign for Louisbourg and its occupation. Both Shirley and Knowles sued Douglass for libel, but lost their cases in court.
  Shirley's conflict with Samuel Waldo over expenses eventually reached a high pitch: Shirley had successfully attached some of Waldo's assets in legal action, which Waldo had countered with further legal action.  Shirley appealed these actions to London, and was granted permission (received in August 1749) to travel to London to deal with the matter. He sailed for Britain in September 1749, just before the long promised compensation reached Boston.  Under legislation shepherded by Thomas Hutchinson, the specie delivered was used to retire the paper currency.  While Shirley was abroad, Hutchinson, Andrew Oliver, and others served as his surrogates, and he carefully instructed Lieutenant Governor Spencer Phips to not give his enemies opportunities to manoeuvre in his absence.
caption: Brigadier-General Samuel Waldo, late 1740s portrait by Robert Feke
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