William Phips

Sir William Phips
1st Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
In office May 16, 1692 – November 17, 1694
Monarchs	William III and Mary II
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 (Woolwich, Maine)
Died	February 18, 1694/95 (aged 44) London, Kingdom of England
Spouse	Mary Spencer Hull (married 1673)
Signature
Nickname	The 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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