Sir William Phips

Sir William Phips 1651-95, American colonial governor. Born in what is today Maine, he was a carpenter and shipbuilder in Boston and became interested in sunken treasure. On his second hunt for treasure, which was financed by the 2d duke of Albemarle, he recovered (1687) some £300,000 worth of Spanish gold off Haiti. His fortune made, he was knighted and became provost marshal general at Boston. He supported Increase Mather in the fight against Sir Edmund Andros for restoration of charter government in Massachusetts, which ended with the overthrow (1689) of Andros. In King William's War (see French and Indian Wars ) Phips led (1690) the expedition that took Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) but failed to take Quebec, and he was also involved in the unsuccessful expedition against Montreal. He was made first royal governor of Massachusetts through the influence of Increase Mather and took office in 1692. In the great witchcraft mania, he appointed a commission to try those accused of witchcraft. However, when his own wife was accused of witchcraft, he ordered an end to the trials. Many disputes won him enemies, and in 1694 he was called to London to answer charges, but he died before hearings began. The name is also spelled Phipps. The biography by Cotton Mather (ed. by Carl Van Doren, 1929) is, naturally, biased.

Bibliography: See biography by A. Lounsberry (1941); C. H. Karraker, The Hispaniola Treasure (1924).

Phips, Sir William (1651–95) colonial governor, born in Woolwich, Maine. Phips discovered a sunken treasure in the Bahamas; in gratitude for the boost to its treasury, the Crown awarded him a knighthood and named him provost marshal for the Dominion of New England, a peacekeeping post. In 1687, Phips was named to lead an expedition against the French settlement at Port Royal, Nova Scotia; this successful venture and the continuing political strife ended with his being named the first royal governor of Massachusetts, in 1692.

Phips (Or Phipps), Sir William (1651–95), born in Maine, was knighted for his recovery of sunken West Indian treasure (reputedly worth £300,000), and was appointed provost marshal general at Boston (1687), in which position he led the colonial expedition against the French in the first French and Indian War. He aided Increase Mather to restore charter rule in Massachusetts, and, at Mather's behest, Phips was named governor under a new charter (1692). His administration was charged with neglect of military activities and other errors, for which he was summoned to answer in London, but he died before proceedings against him began. Cotton Mather's biography (1697) emphasizes the “self‐made man,” and its laudatory manner was attacked by Calef. Phips figures as “The King's Fisher” and “The Elephant” in Mather's Political Fables.