Autographs
1744 William Shirley Royal Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Document Signed for a Judge on Nantucket
WILLIAM SHIRLEY (1694-1771). British Colonial Administrator and Royal Governor of the Province of Massachusetts-Bay, being the longest-serving Governor, holding the position 1741-1749 and again from 1753-1756, served during the French and Indian War, replacing General Braddock upon his death, as North America Commander-in-Chief.
December 21, 1744-Dated Colonial Era, Manuscript Document Signed, "W Shirley," as Colonial Royal British Governor of Massachusetts-Bay, nicely handwritten on fine quality laid period paper, measuring 14.75" x 9.25" matted and professionally framed to fully 17" x 22.5", Choice Very Fine.
Boldly Headed: "Captain General & Governour in Chief of our said Province", William Shirley appoints George Gardner as Judge Probate, in the name of King George II, for the County of Nantucket. Its original Embossed Paper and Wax Wafer Seal remains fully intact at upper left. Some scattered tone, with dampstaining along the vertical centerfold, having some short minor breaks at folds of minor distraction, while the rich brown ink is easily readable, dark and strong (not inspected removed from its frame). Shirley's signature is especially bold at the conclusion, measuring a large near 2.5" long.
Ornately framed, displayed within a deep brown double-mat, shown under special UV Plexiglas. A particularly rare early Colonial Appointment being for a judge of probate on the small Island of Nantucket in 1744.
History of Nantucket Island Massachusetts:
Long after Pilgrims settled on Cape Cod, the island of Nantucket was inhabited primarily by Wampanoag Indians, who had lived on the island for thousands of years. Wampanoag Indians in Nantucket history of Nantucket island Massachusetts.
The name "Nantucket," is an anglicization of the Algonquian name for the "distant, desolate" island. In 1659, a small number of English proprietors led by Tristram Coffin joined the Wampanoag Indians on the island. Soon after, English tradesmen also began to migrate from Plymouth Colony and Cape Cod to the up-and-coming island of Nantucket.
At first, the island's original proprietors and its new tradesmen were often at odds. In 1686, however, Jethro Coffin, the grandson of proprietor Tristram Coffin, married Mary Gardner, the daughter of a prominent tradesman. This marriage ended much of the conflict between the two groups. The Jethro Coffin House, a traditional wooden saltbox home, is now the oldest surviving residence on the island.
In the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, Nantucket was the world's most productive whaling port. "Two thirds of this terraqueous globe are the Nantucketer's," writes Herman Melville in his classic nineteenth-century novel Moby Dick, "For the sea is his; he owns it, as Emperors own empires." Nantucket ships left on whaling voyages that lasted up to five years and took sailors as far away as the South Pacific.
Nantucket built the first lighthouse on Brant Point, at the entrance to the island's main port, in 1746. In the years since, fires, strong winds, and erosion have destroyed Brant Point Light nine different times. Each time, the island has stubbornly rebuilt the structure. The current wooden lighthouse dates back to 1901 and is both a working lighthouse and a popular tourist spot.