William Phips

William Phips
1st Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
In office
May 16, 1692 – November 17, 1694
MonarchsWilliam III and Mary II
LieutenantWilliam Stoughton
Preceded bySimon Bradstreet (as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony)
Succeeded byWilliam Stoughton (acting)
Personal details
BornFebruary 2, 1650/51
Nequasset (Woolwich, Maine)
DiedFebruary 18, 1694/95 (aged 44)
London, Kingdom of England
SpouseMary Spencer Hull (married 1673)
Signature
NicknameThe New England Knight

Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695)[Note 1] was born in Maine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was of humble origin, uneducated, and fatherless from a young age but rapidly advanced from shepherd boy to shipwright, ship's captain, and treasure hunter, the first New England native to be knighted, and the first royally appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Phips was famous in his lifetime for recovering a large treasure from a sunken Spanish galleon but is perhaps best remembered today for establishing the court associated with the infamous Salem Witch Trials, which he grew unhappy with and was forced to prematurely disband after five months.
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