William Phips

Sir William Phips
1st Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
In office May 16, 1692 – November 17, 1694
Monarch	William and Mary
Lieutenant	William Stoughton
Preceded by	Simon Bradstreet (as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony)
Succeeded by	William Stoughton (acting)
Personal details
Born	February 2, 1650/51 Nequasset (present-day Woolwich, Maine)
Died	February 18, 1694/95 (aged 44) London, England
Spouse(s)	Mary Spencer Hull (married 1673)
Signature
Nickname(s)	The New England Knight

Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was a shepherd boy, a shipwright, ship's captain, treasure hunter, a Major General, and the first royally-appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He is perhaps best remembered for establishing, and later over-ruling and disbanding, the court associated with the infamous Salem Witch Trials.

Of humble origin, uneducated, and fatherless from a young age, he watched over his family's flock of sheep before apprenticing to a shipbuilder near his home in Maine. He moved to Boston to start a business building ships and soon began to embark on treasure hunting expeditions to the West Indies. He became famous in London and Boston when he recovered a large treasure from a sunken Spanish galleon, a feat that earned him instant wealth and a knighthood. In 1690, during King William's War, he was made a Major General the same day he was first allowed to vote, and he led a successful military expedition against the capital of Acadia, Port Royal, followed by unsucessful attempt to capture Quebec.

Two years later Phips become governor by successfully striding a middle position that cultivated a strong connection to the powerful New England clergyman, Increase Mather, as well as Mather's royalist opposition on the Board of Trade. Phips and Mather arrived back in Massachusetts Bay at the height of the witchcraft delusion. Taking a middle position was no longer tenable for Phips and he became enmeshed in controversies that led to his recall to England to answer a variety of charges. He died in London at the age of 44 before the charges against him could be heard.

Early life

Phips was born the son of James and Mary Phips, in a frontier settlement at Nequasset (present-day Woolwich, Maine), near the mouth of the Kennebec River. His father died when he was six years old, and his mother married a neighbor and business partner, John White. Although Cotton Mather in his biography of Phips claimed that he was one of 26 children, this number is likely an exaggeration or included many that did not survive infancy. His mother is known to have had six children by Phips, and eight by White. His father was poor but his ancestry was may have descended from country gentry in Nottinghamshire, at least technically. Constantine Phipps seems to have been a cousin of Phips, five years his junior. According to Mather, Phips was a shepherd until the age of 18, after which he began a four-year apprenticeship as a ship's carpenter. He received no formal schooling. Despite a keen intelligence, his literacy skills were likely rudimentary. Robert Calef wrote, "...it will be generally acknowledged, that not withstanding the meanness of his parentage and education, he attained to be master of a Ship..." Once he achieved wealth and fame he was able to rely on a personal secretary and scribes for assistance, as was common at the time.

After his apprenticeship ended in 1673, Phips traveled to Boston where he continued to employ his shipmaking and carpentry skills. About a year later he married Mary Spencer Hull, widow to John Hull (unrelated to Massachusetts mintmaster John Hull). Mary's father, Daniel Spencer, was a merchant and landowner with interests in Maine, and Phips may have known her from an early age. By all accounts, the couple exhibited "genuine affection" for one another, and there is no evidence Phips was unfaithful during his long absences from home.

Phips established a shipyard on the Sheepscot River at Merrymeeting Bay in Maine in 1675 at the outbreak of King Philips War. The shipyard was successful, turning out a number of small boats and building its first large merchant ship in 1676. As he was preparing for its maiden voyage in August 1676, planning to deliver a load of lumber to Boston, a band of Indians descended on the area during the Northeast Coast Campaign (1676). Rather than take on his cargo, he took on board as many of the local settlers as he could. Although he was financially ruined (the Indians destroyed the shipyard and his intended cargo of masts and lumber), he was seen as a hero in Boston.

In the early 1680s, Phips began to engage in a favorite colonial pastime of treasure hunting in the Bahamas. One voyage he made was as captain of the Resolution, seeking treasure from sunken Spanish ships on well-known wrecks near New Providence. The expedition is not well documented but seems to have been profitable, returning shares worth £54 to certain low-level participants. New England mint master John Hull was one of Phips' investors as he related to Hull's son-in-law, Samuel Sewall, in November of 1692. Phips earned a widespread reputation for 'continually finding sunken ships.'

The Strange Voyage of the HMS Rose of Algeree

Narborough's Treasure Hunt

On May 2, 1683, the Captain of the frigate HMS Falcon, was sailing from England to the West Indies and beckoned the other officers to be present as he broke open his secret instructions and found out that his mission was to aid in the hunt for a large treasure near Hispaniola. A sloop in convoy, the HMS Bonetta (sometimes Bonito) would be doing most of the searching, but the Falcon would act as aid and protection. These instructions were from Sir John Narborough a rear admiral and commissioner of the Royal Navy who also had the ear of King Charles II.

Agreement between Phips and his crew, drawn up at Whitehall

Around this same time, the thirty-two year old Phips had made his way to England and he somehow managed to gain an audience with Narborough and Charles II. By any measure, this was a remarkable achievement for a poor New Englander like Phips, but it also seems clear that he must have been at the right place at the right time. His reputation for finding sunken ships may have preceded him, and he seems to have had demonstrable gains to show as one letter writer mentions his 'late successful returns.' Perhaps he delivered the Kings portion of these returns to Whitehall in person? In any case, a reckless plan was concocted, probably by Narborough, whereby this New England native, despite having no background in the English navy, would become the commander of a 20-gun frigate, the HMS Rose of Algiers, but would receive no other financial backing, and he and his crew would need to pay for all other expenses of the voyage, including food and diving equipment and give up a deposit of £100. Of the treasure they found, 35% would go to the King, and the rest would be divided by the otherwise unpaid crew. This was obviously a recipe for chaos, and it speaks to a Captain Ahab-like obsessiveness on the part of Narborough, but it is also possible that Phips was being used in a complex way, with the sly intention that HMS Rose would act as a noisy decoy for his more important treasure hunt. Unlike the Falcon & Bonetta, Phips was not sent directly to search near Hispaniola where Narborough (correctly) believed a great treasure lay buried, and Phips' instructions were not kept secret but were signed by the entire crew, thereby broadcasting their designs through the harbor and shipyards. On July 13, 1683, the articles of agreement (see image) were signed by Phips and a seven other crew members, in the presence of Narborough and Haddock.

Delivering Randolph, "Evil Genius of New England"

Unfortunately for Phips, before he could set sail, he was unlucky to have another mission added to the manifest. Edward Randolph "indefatigable foe of Puritans" was serving Boston with a writ of quo warranto against the precious charter of Massachusetts and searching for a frigate to be the muscle backing him:

"It is essential that a frigate should be on the New England coast at such a time to second the quo warranto and hasten submission;... a war vessel be present to awe them."

Randolph hoped such a display would induce New England to submit to revisions of their charter from the crown, rather than having it fully revoked. On August 3, 1683, Randolph wrote to Sir Leonine Jenkins "I am now informed that the H.M.S. Rose is already fitted out for the Bahamas with orders to call at Boston for 2 or 3 weeks on the way." Randolph indicates that time is of the essence and he is willing to travel with Phips or forego the frigate idea and embark on a merchantman. One would hope that there was some hesitation on his part and others, in re-appropriating this ship of motley unpaid treasure-hunters to take on the role of royal enforcer, acting as quasi-policemen. Nonetheless Randolph, along with his brother Bernard, were given passage and cabins on the HMS Rose.

As Told by John Knepp

Knepp Journal, copied by F.L.Gay and held by the Massachusetts Historical Society.

Just before the Rose set sail, things were complicated once more when it was decided to place a minder on board named John Knepp "to look after the King's interest". Knepp seems to have been a purser. In the English Navy, the purser acted as a sort of Company Store, tempting sailors far from shore with whiskey, tobacco and other desirables by offering them credit against their wages, (collected through the captain). It was a lucrative post and required an investment to procure, hence it usually went to young Naval clerks and scions who could afford the capital outlay. To place a purser on a voyage with no wages, and was on a shoestring budget with all the men were collectively buying and sharing their food together, seems to be a bad idea. (Knepp brought great quantities of fancy cheese and brandy, with predictable results). But either way, the purser was dependent on good relations with the captain, yet Knepp seems to have looked down on Phips and so decided to be forward in introducing himself to the crew of the HMS Rose while Phips was absent in London. The reception was rather less than friendly:

"... then most of them began to curse the ship and wished she had been afire before they saw her and that they had better have hired a ship of merchants..."

The crew were a salty bunch to say the least, a "rum lot" as Peter Earle calls them, and this final last-minute bait-and-switch, after the previous addition of Randolph, seems to have nearly put them over the edge. Everything we know about the crew comes from a detailed journal of the trip to Boston was kept by Knepp and he has rightly been called a "hostile observer" but it is more important to note that he was often ignorant of the complex, dual nature of the voyage, as well as basic colonial politics, if not some important elements of human nature. Distant historians must grope for any available source to shed light on events of the past, and so history tends to be swayed heavily by the writers. Phips was never a writer and so much of his story comes from others, with Knepp's Journal at the top of this pile. Like the rest of us, Knepp does not seem to have understood the role Phips was intended to play, either in support of Randolph, or as a possible decoy and cleanup for the Falcon & Bonetta. In Knepp's first interaction, he says that he is seeking signatures between the crew and the King though the July 13 agreement (see image) would more accurately be portrayed as between Phips and the crew, as the first mate protests. Knepp's job seemed to be to seek additional signatures from the crew, which is easily done when Phips returns to the ship, with Randolph acting as a witness. Next Knepp complained to Phips about the firing of the ships cannons to set the watch. By the time the ship set sail the next day, Phips and Knepp were distinctly at odds, as Knepp records when asked for a cabin or berth and was told he would have to make do sleeping on a trunk. This was an unfortunate turn of events for both of them, as well as the historian who would prefer to have Knepp at the Captain's table recording the dinner conversation between Randolph, his brother, and Phips. Class friction surely played a strong role in the conflict between Knepp and Phips. Knepp consistently presents himself as a victim and there are many times he is bullied and badly mistreated, but it also seems that he must have set himself above, and thought of himself as being of a higher class than Phips. The articles of agreement testify to the trust that the king and Narborough placed in Phips, and the crew seemed willing to do as Phips commanded, but Knepp acts as if he is not beholden to Phips. Knepp's journal is addressed to Narborough (and Haddock) and it reads like a sycophant's strong gambit for a future promotion. He presents Phips as the trope of a tarpaulin captain -- every sailor his comrade, questionable literacy level-- and so it is probably safe to infer that Knepp was of the gentleman class and likely some years younger than Phips, perhaps in his mid-twenties. Knepp is excellent at taking coordinates and seems trained in piloting, but does not exhibit the a breadth of experience or knowledge of the rigging. Though he records every perceived misstep by Phips, his careful plotting of the journey also shows the great ability Phips possessed as a sailor, crossing the Atlantic in half the time of another ship that they meet, and making first landfall at Cape Ann.

Randolph Arrived at Boston

On October 27, Increase Mather recorded his one and only diary entry for all of 1683: "Randolph arrived at Boston." Phips quickly began to provide a show of force for Randolph by insisting other ship's strike their colors and firing across their bows if they did not. Knepp claims that Narborough did not condone this, and many historians have followed his lead in treating Phips activities in Boston harbor as arrogant showboating, but it seems clear from the letters of Randolph and Blathwayt  that Phips was not doing this merely for some explosive fun. Phips cites personal instructions from the King and indeed Charles II was known to have insisted on a salute to his flag. As Phips was creating chaos for the Massachusetts government, he continued to pursue his original intention of gathering diving equipment and divers to take to the Bahamas. Phips later followed the same procedures of requiring ships to strike in the West Indies and with a new crew in Bermuda. Phips lack of experience in the Royal Navy would suggest he likely made mistakes and did not always go about this procedure in the best way. It must have been a strange and uncomfortable chore for someone whose loyalties were with Boston (in '76 the records show initiated the building of a house in Boston). Randolph was never one to withhold criticism, but he did not complain of Phips activities in Boston harbor that winter and Randolph even seems to have assisted Phips by searching a ship for him. But choosing a threatening posture showed Randolph's inability to understand the New England character and it did not produce the effect Randolph intended. The magistrates voted to submit to the crown, but the deputies resisted. Phips and the HMS Rose became a focal point for the resistance, as Knepp dutifully recorded without understanding the subtext: "Phips crew say that they would as soon fire against this town as against Algiers and called us rebels," is one deposition Knepp records though Knepp seems to believe he is merely recording a barroom brawl. "...one of the constables in particular told him that he thought Capt. Phips had been a town born child, Captain Phips answering him, 'Let him be what he would, he had been sworn at sixteen years of age to be true to the King and his government." (As if in an act of delayed vengeance, the HMS Rose would be boarded and de-masted, and its captain John George imprisoned, less than six years later during the Boston Revolution.)

Randolph's writ of quo warranto required a response from Massachusetts by the end of "Michaelmas term." Empty-handed, Randolph and his brother boarded a pink bound for England on December 14th. A few days later, Phips began making preparations but was detained by problems with the Boston government and the ongoing search for victuals. In a discussion with Phips, Knepp allows, as a purser, that many of the crew owe him money, and says that he would have them thrown into jail except that it would hinder His Majesties treasure hunt. Phips finally sailed clear of the Boston Harbor on January 19, 1684 but unfortunately not before some of his rogue-ish crew could cause a small riot in Boston and perpetrate a despicable assault in Hull, according to Knepp. Knepp was not on board, meaning he had effectively deserted according to the Articles, "though I should be almost undone by it" and so it became all the more important for Knepp to show Phips in a bad light.

Two days after Phips left the Boston area, Increase Mather gave a rousing speech to the deputies and freemen advising them not to submit to the crown and to resist the quo warranto. One historian calls this Increase Mather's "first important entry into politics." {Mather's "Remarkable Providences" was distributed this same month, with echoes to the New England government Increase Mather assembles in 1692.} It had been Phips' debut into colonial politics too, if clumsily and involuntarily. To what extent he was swayed by the arguments of Randolph as they crossed the Atlantic, it is hard to know, but Phips certainly played the role with bluster, and he seems to have spoken up as a royalist to the Boston government in the meetings he had with Bradstreet and Stoughton, at least as recorded by Knepp. By 1688, Phips would cross over to Increase Mather's side and begin to consistently oppose Randolph and the Dominion government he helped to bring about, and with a vehemence that would seem to suggest some degree of shame and dismay for the role he played as captain of the HMS Rose in 1683-4.

1684 Map Drawn by Charles Salmon

After leaving Boston, Phips searched the picked over wrecks in the Bahamas with limited success. Too many other treasure hunters had already gone before. When some of his crew became mutinous, he had them put off in Jamaica. On November 18, 1684, Phips was in Port Royal, Jamaica the same time as Captain Stanley of the Bonetta. There is no record of their joining forces or sharing information. It seems likely they met up but we don't know if it was preordained. If Phips was unwittingly being used as a decoy to distract the other treasure hunters away from Stanley, it might have dawned on him at this time. Soon after Phips visited the north coast of Hispaniola and slowly cruised north exploring the banks where Stanley had been diligently searching for over a year. The decisiveness with which Phips later returned and quickly located the treasure suggests that he was able to gather valuable knowledge and begin to formulate a clear plan, though he would have to wait two years to bring it to fruition.

After Phips returned to London in August of 1685, Samuel Pepys ordered the Navy Board to assess the Rose. Pepys had been out of power when Narborough set the strange plan in motion. In March and May of 1686, Phips was ordered to attend the Lord Treasurer where it was found that the King was only to receive £471 in treasure, though the wear and tear on the Rose was estimated at £700. In this age of piracy and high mortality, Phips making it back to London alive and with the King's ship still afloat was probably enough for him to pass the test. Already Narborough had a new plan in the works for Captain Phips, though this time it would be a private venture. Narborough's long infatuation with the Hispaniola treasure had not been diminished by Captain Stanley's discouragement on the Bonetta. And Knepp's report on Phips did not disqualify him. Phips had shown that he was serviceable: willing to harass the harbor of his hometown and to compromise between his own interests, and the interests of the crown. This was surely noted at Whitehall, even by the more conservative elements.

Striking Silver & Gold

With Captain Stanley of the Bonetta expressing disinterest in continuing to search for the Hispaniola treasure, while Captain Phips probably expressed enthusiasm and new confidence, the next logical choice for commander was obvious. Narborough turned to the hard-partying Duke of Albemarle who assembled a group of private investors to fund another expedition. Phips was tasked with finding suitable ships and these came to be the James and Mary, a 22-gun 200-ton frigate, and the 45-ton Henry of London, a sloop commanded by Francis Rogers, Phips' second mate on the previous voyage (he had left the Rose in Boston [1]). Phips utilized experience as a sailor and shipwright to select high quality anchors, chains, and cables to hold their ships securely in close proximity to the shoals for months as they tried to fish treasure from it. £500 worth of merchandize was taken along to barter for provisions, as well as to provide cover, or a ruse, that they were in Hispaniola merely as merchants, not treasure hunters. The London investors must have felt confident because they paid a total of £3,210 outfitting the ships for the voyage. Unlike the voyage of the Rose, the crew were to be paid regular wages.

Engraving depicting Phips raising the sunken treasure

Phips sailed from the Downs on 12 September 1686, and on 28 November arrived in Hispaniola, Samana Bay, where they spent two weeks restocking their water and provender. The weather was bad, and the search consequently did not get under way for a few more weeks. January 12, Phips sent out Captain Rogers in the smaller Henry of London along with three Native American divers (Jonas Abimeleck and John Pasqua, name of other diver not listed) to search what was then called the Ambrosia Bank (now the Silver Bank). There was a bit more delay from weather but Peter Earle writes, "There is no doubt that he knew exactly where he was going." January 20, they spotted cannons from a shipwreck lying on the white sands of the reef. The ship they had found was the Almiranta of the Spanish silver fleet (later determined to be Nuestra Señora de la Concepción; the English did not know the name of the ship) wrecked in 1641. Over the next two days, the divers were able to bring up 3,000 coins and 3 silver bars. They decided to travel back to Phips' to let him know but this turned out to be a somewhat slow and treacherous trip among the reefs.

After Phips was discreetly informed of their amazing find, he spent the next nine days preparing the ships and gathering enough food to sustain the men over months of bringing up treasure. [During the controversies that surrounded Phips at the end of his life, his critics like to portray him as hot-headed, ill-bred, and impatient, so it seems worth noting his careful conduct during this life-changing and momentous time.]

Through March and April the divers and ships' crews worked to recover all manner of treasure: silver coins, silver bullion, doubloons, jewelry, a small amount of gold, and other artifacts. Concerned about the possibility of mutiny, Phips guaranteed to the crew, who had been hired for seaman's wages, that they would receive shares in the find, even if he had to pay them from his own percentage. He carefully avoided putting in at any ports before anchoring at Gravesend, where he dispatched a courier to London with the news.

The treasure weighed in at over 34 tons, or £205,536. Almost a quarter went to Albemarle. Phips, after paying out £8,000 in crew shares, received £11,000. Phips was treated as a hero in London, and the find was the talk of the town. Some economic historians argue that Phips' find significantly effected history because it led to a major increase in the formation of joint-stock companies, and even played a role in the eventual formation in the Bank of England.

Phips and the crew were rewarded by the investors with medals, and Phips was knighted by James in June. James also rewarded Phips with the post of provost marshal general (chief sheriff) of the Dominion of New England, serving under Sir Edmund Andros. In September 1687 Phips returned to the wreck, though he did not command the venture. Admiral Narborough elected to personally lead the expedition, but it was not nearly as successful. The wreck had been discovered by others, and the arrival of the English scattered more than 20 smaller ships. Treasure worth £10,000 was recovered before Narborough's death in May 1688 brought the expedition to an end. Phips had by then already left the wreck site in early May, sailing for Boston for what seems to have been his first time home in four and a half years, to take up his new post as provost marshal general.

Provost Marshal General

Phips arrived back in Boston in the summer of 1688 and was welcomed back as a hero. His wife seemed very happy to see him. He was celebrated in sermons and at the Harvard college commencement he was compared to Jason fetching the Golden Fleece. Andros and Randolph were not so happy to see him and it seems the feeling was mutual. Almost all of New England was unified in their opposition to Andros and Randolph. It is interesting to note here that Phips, despite having been captain of Randolph's gunship in '83-4, does not seem to have carried an association with Randolph in the minds of the people of Massachusetts Bay.

Andros swore Phips into his new post in early July, but his council refused Phips' demand that the previously named sheriffs be dismissed. If Phips had simply wanted a share in the spoils of the Dominion, he might have stuck around and kept his head down. Instead he stayed home in Boston only six weeks before shipping back to London to join with Increase Mather in opposing the Dominion and seeking to restore the original charter. This seems to be the first mention of Phips in Increase Mather's diary or correspondence. Motivated by a shared dislike of Andros, Phips and Increase Mather worked together to bring about his downfall. After the Glorious Revolution in late 1688 replaced the Catholic James with the Protestant monarchs William and Mary, Phips and Mather petitioned the new monarchs for restoration of the Massachusetts charter, and successfully convinced the Lords of Trade to delay the transmission of formal instructions about the change of power to Andros. Phips returned to Boston in May 1689, carrying proclamations from the king and queen, and found Andros and Randolph had already been arrested in a revolt in Boston. Phips served for a time as an overseer guarding Andros and Randolph in the prison at Castle Island.

Becoming Free: The Political Baptism of Phips

"If Paris were worth a mass to Henry IV, Boston was worth a conversion, in the Puritan sense, to William Phips."

The turmoil in England and William's accession to the throne had prompted New France's Governor took advantage of the political turmoil in New England to launch a series of Indian raids across the northern frontier in 1689 and early 1690. When a frontier town in Maine was overrun in early March of 1690, the French were perceived as instigators and the provisional government of Massachusetts, began casting about for a major general to lead an expedition against the French in Acadia. Phips had not demonstrated military interests as a young man. During King Philip's War, when many took up arms, Phips built ships and cut lumber. John Knepp's journal testifies to Phips constitutional disinterest in military discipline. Yet Phips control of the naval gunship, and his subsequent actions, seem to have suggested he was a good candidate to lead a large military expedition. Sewall writes:

Saturday, March 22. Sir William Phips offers himself to go in person, the Governor [Bradstreet] sends for me, and tells me of it, I tell the [General] Court; they send for Sir William who accepts to go, and is appointed to command the forces. Major Townsend relinquishes with thanks. Sir William had been sent to at first; but some feared he would not go; others thought his Lady would not consent. Court makes Sir William free and swear him Major General, and several others. Adjourn to Boston, Wednesday,14 night one o'clock.

This is Sewall's entire entry and he has no entry for the next day. It shows that Phips, though knighted, and one of the richest men in the colony, and highly active on the colony's behalf, was not yet able to vote or serve under the provisional government, as they were following the old charter wherein only church members were free. The court, not the church, made Phips free on this Saturday, according to Sewall. Sewall was religiously devout and active in his church congregation and would not likely have misspoken or deliberately withheld information on this point. Sewall's diary is generally considered trustworthy and is widely-referenced by historians.

Phips added to the rolls of the North church. MHS with permission.

Some years later, after Phips death and following a good bit of political upheaval involving Phips and the Mathers, Cotton Mather anonymously wrote a biography of Phips and sent it away to London for publication despite having Boston printing presses at his beck and call. He implausibly cast this scenario as a spontaneous spiritual awakening, including heartfelt testimony, which Cotton Mather claims to faithfully transcribe "without adding so much as one word unto it." (Cotton Mather loved puns and inside jokes and this could be interpreted as his sly way of saying Phips wrote not a single word.)

The two events are not mutually exclusive. Cotton Mather places the baptism the next day, March 23. The general court, where Cotton Mather played an active role, could have made Phips free with the understanding that Cotton Mather would add him to the rolls of the North church. Records of the North church show Phips name added to admissions. (Curiously, a "B" for "brother" is withheld as prefix to his name, unlike all others. See image.) Another book, mostly recording infant baptisms, lists Phips as "Admitted and Baptized." Phip's wife's name doesn't seem to appear in the records at all. The admission and baptism of an adult was generally a somewhat drawn-out process over some weeks. There doesn't seem to be any surviving record of Phips "coming to the table" to partake in the Lord's supper, as only church members were invited to do.

The only other reference to a baptism of Phips is not first-hand but a sardonic reference by Blathwayt (Randolph's boss in London) mentioning Phips being made a general the same year he was "publicly christened at Boston." Expanding the franchise of New England away from the control of the clergy was one of Blathwayt's obsessions, and his comment probably goes to this point, as well as noting Phips loyalty with New England as opposed to the crown. In short, if something like Cotton Mather's March 23 church scene happened at all, it should be understood as foremost a political event.

Major General

Main articles: Battle of Port Royal (1690) and Battle of Quebec (1690)

Port Royal expedition

In late April, leading a fleet of seven ships and over 700, Phips sailed from Boston to the Acadian capital, Port Royal. On May 9 he summoned governor Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Meneval to surrender. Meneval, in command of about 70 men and a fort in disrepair, promptly negotiated terms of capitulation. When Phips came ashore the next day, it was discovered that Acadians had been removing valuables, including some that were government property (and thus were supposed to come under the victor's control).

Phips, whose motives continue to be debated by historians today, claimed this was a violation of the terms of capitulation, and consequently declared the agreement void. He allowed his troops to sack the town and destroy the church, acts that he had promised to prevent in the oral surrender agreement. He had the fortifications destroyed, removing all of their weaponry. Before he left, he convinced a number of Acadians to swear oaths of allegiance to the English crown, appointed a council of locals to administer the town, and then sailed back to Boston, carrying Meneval and his garrison as prisoners of war. Phips received a hero's welcome and was lavished with praise, although he was criticized in some circles (and has been vilified in French and Acadian histories) for allowing the sacking of Port Royal.

Quebec expedition

French drawing showing the English attack on Quebec

Frontenac receiving the envoy of Sir William Phipps demanding the surrender of Quebec, 1690.

In the wake of the success, the Massachusetts provisional government agreed to organize an expedition on a larger scale against Quebec, the capital of New France, and gave its command to Phips. Originally intending to coordinate with a simultaneous overland attack on Montreal launched from Albany, New York, the expedition's departure was delayed in the vain hope that needed munitions would arrive from England. The expedition, counting 34 ships and more than 2,000 soldiers, finally sailed on August 20. It was short on ammunition, had no pilots familiar with the Saint Lawrence River, and carried what would turn out to be inadequate provisions.

Because of contrary winds and the difficulty in navigating the Saint Lawrence, the expedition took eight weeks to reach Quebec. The late arrival (wintry conditions were already setting in on the river) and the long voyage meant that it would be impossible to conduct a lengthy siege. Phips sent a message into the citadel demanding its surrender. Governor General Louis de Buade de Frontenac declared that his only response would be from "the mouths of my cannons". Phips then held a war council, which decided to make a combined land assault and naval bombardment. Both failed. The landing force, 1,200 men led by Major John Walley, were unable to cross the well-defended Saint-Charles River, and the naval bombardment failed because the New Englanders' guns were unable to reach the high battlements of the city, and they furthermore soon ran out of ammunition. The fighting, according to Phips, cost the expedition 30 deaths and one field cannon, as well as numerous wounded; disease and disaster took an additional toll. Smallpox ravaged the troops, and two transports were lost to accidents; another 200 men were lost to these causes.

Sir William Phips in later life

The expedition cost the colony £50,000 to mount, for which it issued paper currency, a first in the English colonies. Many of the expedition's participants and creditors were unhappy at being paid this way, and Phips generously purchased some of the depreciated paper with hard currency, incurring financial losses in the process. At this same time, Governor Meneval petitioned for the return of minor valuables (silverware and other small items) that Phips had taken. Phips was outraged when the General Council heard Meneval's case. He returned to England in February 1691 to seek support for another expedition against Quebec.

Becoming Governor of Massachusetts

Soon after returning to England, Phips joined back up with Increase Mather and again supported him in dealing with Whitehall. Increase Mather's diary says they are together on March 25, 1691, and again on March 26. On March 31, they are together as Increase Mather writes a response to the Board of Trade. Also at this meeting is Sir Henry Ashurst. These three—Mather the clergyman, flanked by two knights: Sir Phips & Sir Ashurst—would emerge later as the major proponents of the various compromises that brought about a new charter. Not counting Phips, there seem to have been a total of four agents acting on behalf of Massachusetts in seeking to restore the old charter. The two agents holding official commission papers from the Massachusetts council—Cooke and Oakes—were also the least compromising and the least politically deft. The Board of Trade seems to have sought a policy of pushing through a new charter by cleaving the two knights away from these two agents. July 24, Increase Mather records in his diary that he would "part with my life sooner than [compromise on charter]". Not long after this Increase Mather left London on vacation. August 11, 1691 a letter was written from Whitehall to the King William's secretary: "I must now desire your Lordship to acquaint the King that they are willing to accept their Charter... and no longer Insist upon the Alterations mentioned..." This could not have been Cooke and Oakes, as they never wavered in their stance opposing a new charter. Mather's diary entry one week later (August 19) indicates that he is still either unaware or has not yet accepted this move. August 20, the Earl of Nottingham told a committee that he had been with Sir William Phips who informed him that the New England agents "did acquiesce therein [with the new charter]." By August 27, Increase Mather had decided to participate in the process of shaping this new charter, if reluctantly.

A number of Mather's requests concerning the new charter were rejected, but William and Mary allowed Mather to nominate the colony's Lt. Governor and council members. The monarchs appointed Phips as the first royal governor, with Increase Mather's approval, under a newly issued colonial charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The charter greatly expanded the colony's bounds, including not just the territories of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but also those of the Plymouth Colony, islands south of Cape Cod including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and the present-day territories of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. It also expanded the franchise to be nearly universal (for males).

Phips and Increase Mather were odd-fellows, without much in common, but they had become politically conjoined to the new charter, and it would be their job to sell it to the people of Massachusetts who were expecting their agents to return with nothing less than the old charter restored.

The Salem Witch Trials

See also: Salem witch trials

On reaching Boston together on May 14, 1692, Phips and Increase found the colony gripped by witchcraft hysteria. Beginning in February 1692, more than 125 people were arrested on charges of witchcraft, and were held in prison pending the inauguration of the new government. Phips established a special Court of Oyer and Terminer to hear the accumulated cases on May 27, appointing Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton as the chief judge. The court admitted spectral evidence (alleged demonic visions) and denied the accused access to legal counsel. 20 people were executed as witches, both males and females. All but Giles Corey, who was pressed to death after refusing to enter any plea, died by hanging. Although the court was terminated in September 1692, accusations and arrests continued, including charges against some fairly high profile individuals, including Phips' wife, Lady Mary. Phips finally put an end to the proceedings by first suspending the trials, and releasing all prisoners (numbering about 150) charged with witchcraft by May 1693.

Postcard showing a 1909 reproduction of Fort William Henry

French and Indian raids had resumed in the years following Phips' 1690 expeditions, so he sought to improve the province's defenses. Pursuant to his instructions from London, in 1692 he oversaw the construction of a stone fort, which was dubbed Fort William Henry, at Pemaquid (present-day Bristol, Maine), where a wooden fort had been destroyed in 1689. The expense involved in this effort made it unpopular in the province. Attempts by Phips to coordinate defenses with neighboring provinces were marred by difficulties often emanating from his rough personality and temper (relations with the neighbors improved after his departure.) He recruited Major Benjamin Church to lead a 450-man expedition against the Indians in Maine. In August 1693 Phips reached a tenuous peace agreement with the Abenaki people; it was eventually subverted by French intrigues to bring the Abenaki back on the warpath, and had no lasting impact.

Phips' governorship was marked by political factionalism, and his lack of connections to existing local powers hurt him. Furthermore, Joseph Dudley, a Massachusetts native (and former dominion official) was in London, scheming to replace him. He frequently quarreled with friends, foes, and other government officials. His biographers describe his behavior as "blustering aggressiveness", and his contemporaries complained of his "lowness of education". He quarreled with neighboring governors over military issues, and aggravated a border dispute with neighboring Rhode Island. He twice got into physical altercations with other government officials, situations that Dudley and his other opponents highlighted to the Lords of Trade. He was accused of violating the Navigation Acts (which he was, as governor, supposed to enforce) in what his opponents described as "illegal and self-serving commercial activities". Phips' attempts to justify his actions included attacks on his enemies, many of whom were on good terms with the colonial secretary, William Blathwayt. Blathwayt continued to support him, as did Increase Mather, but this was not enough to overcome the many complaints lodged against him.

On July 4, 1694 Phips received an official summons to appear before the Lords of Trade in London. He spent much of the summer at Pemaquid, overseeing the frontier defenses, while Lieutenant Governor Stoughton oversaw the gathering of evidence for the hearing. He sailed for England on November 17, and arrived in London on January 1, 1694/5. Upon his arrival, he was arrested on exaggerated charges, levied by Dudley, that he had conspired to withhold customs monies. Dudley had hoped that the £20,000 bail would prevent Phips' return to Massachusetts, but Phips was bailed by Sir Henry Ashurst. However, Phips fell ill with a fever while preparing his defense, and died on February 18, 1694/95, aged 44, before his charges were heard. He was buried in London in the yard of the Church of St. Mary Woolnoth. His grave was originally marked, but the marker was removed (and his coffin possibly moved within the church grounds) during renovations in the 18th century.

Family and legacy

Anonymously printed by Cotton Mather in 1697

William and Mary Phips had no children. They adopted Spencer Bennett, the son of Mary's sister Rebecca, who formally took the Phips name in 1716. He went on to serve as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, including two periods as acting governor.

Phippsburg, Maine is named in his honor.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote of Phipps' life in the chapter, "A Prize from the Sea," in the collection "MEMOIR OF NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE with Stories Now First Published in This Country," edited by H. A. Page (Henry S. King & Co., London, 1872, p. 282) (https://books.google.com/books?id=juNaAAAAMAAJ&q=William+Phips#v=onepage&q=William%20Phips&f=false).

External links

• Official Massachusetts Governor biography
• Profile, law2.umkc.edu; accessed December 23, 2014.

Government offices
Preceded by Simon Bradstreet as Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony	Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay May 16, 1692 – November 17, 1694	Succeeded by William Stoughton (acting)