Samuel Shute

Samuel Shute
Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
In office October 5, 1716 – January 1, 1723
Preceded by	William Tailer (acting)
Succeeded by	William Dummer (acting)
Governor of the Province of New Hampshire
In office October 5, 1716 – January 1, 1723
Preceded by	George Vaughan (acting)
Succeeded by	John Wentworth (acting)
Personal details
Born	January 12, 1662 London, England
Died	April 15, 1742(1742-04-15) (aged 80) England
Religion	Church of England
Signature

Samuel Shute (January 12, 1662 – April 15, 1742) was a military officer and royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. After serving in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, he was appointed by King George I as governor of Massachusetts in 1716. His term was marked by numerous disagreements with the colonial legislature, and he returned to England in 1723 to lobby for a clarification of the governor's powers. Although his position was vindicated, he was not returned to the governorship, and remained in England. He remained politically influential with respect to Massachusetts politics, promoting the appointment of Jonathan Belcher to the governorship in 1730.

Life

Samuel Shute was born in London, England on January 12, 1662. He was the eldest of six children of Benjamin Shute, a London merchant. His mother, identified in sources as Elizabeth, Patience, or Mary, was the daughter of Joseph Caryl, a dissenting Presbyterian clergyman. His brother John, afterward Lord Barrington, became an influential member of parliament and political leader of religious Dissenters. Shute was educated by Rev. Charles Morton, who afterward emigrated to New England. He afterward attended the University of Leyden in Holland, but subsequently entered the English army, serving under the Prince of Orange, and afterward under the Duke of Marlborough. Under the latter leader he was made a lieutenant-colonel, and received a brevet promotion to colonel. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Blenheim. He was a man well esteemed at court, a friend to liberty, and of an open, generous, and humane disposition. Upon the accession of King George I in 1714, Colonel Burgess was commissioned as governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but for a consideration of £1,000 sterling, he resigned, and Shute was appointed in his place.

Shute arrived in Boston on October 4, 1716, succeeding Joseph Dudley as governor. He at once entered into disputes with the Massachusetts General Court concerning the royal prerogative, a conflict that continued during his entire term of office. His motives in this regard appear to have been sincere and well-intentioned, but he was by nature stubborn and unwilling to yield his point. He condemned the banking solution of the province's ongoing currency problems proposed by the legislature, and attempted to institute a rival banking system originated by himself. He sought to conciliate the Indians at the expense of further alienating the colonists. He had annulled the election of Elisha Cooke, Jr. to the governor's council after a dispute with him over royal rights to ship timber in Maine (then part of Massachusetts). He was further attacked by George Vaughan, his Lieutenant Governor in New Hampshire, who claimed full gubernatorial powers anytime Shute was away from that province. Shute's most notorious controversy concerned his own salary, which was a frequent source of dispute between governor and legislature. In 1723 he left for England, ostensibly because of the pressure of private business. However, he raised complaints about his disputes with the legislature with the Privy Council, which in 1725 issued an explanatory colonial charter confirming his position. According to one authority (Williamson's History), Shute was now pensioned in England. One circumstance connected with the administration of Governor Shute, is worthy of notice. It is well known that a large number of Scotch emigrants from the north of Ireland settled the town of Londonderry, N. H. Prior to leaving Ireland, and to prepare the way and secure a reception and place of residence on their arrival here, early in 1718 they sent Rev. William Boyd with an address to Gov. Shute, expressing a strong desire to emigrate to New England, should he afford them suitable encouragement. The address was very concise and appropriate, and had 217 signatures. The governor gave the desired encouragement, and the emigrants arrived in five ships at Boston on Aug. 4, 1718. Gov. Shute, who never married and had no children, died in England, Apr. 10, 1743.

Shutesbury, Massachusetts is named in his honor.

References

• This article contains text adapted from the National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 1, a work which is in the public domain. link
• Derby, George; White, James Terry (1897). The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Clifton, NJ: J. T. White. OCLC 1759175. http://books.google.com/books?id=KOE-AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA374#v=onepage&f=false. 
• Garraty, John Arthur; Carnes, Mark Christopher; American Council of Learned Societies (1999). American National Biography: Rosseau–Simmons. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195127980. OCLC 246052834. 
• Annals of Kings Chapel
• Publications of the Society of Colonial Wars
•  "Shute, Samuel". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 
• Barry, Joseph. History of Massachusetts
• Bushman, Richard. King and People in Provincial Massachusetts
• Malone, Joseph. Pine Trees and Politics
• Shields, David Oracles of Empire

External links

• Official Massachusetts Governor Biography

Government offices
Preceded by William Tailer (acting)	Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay October 5, 1716 – January 1, 1723	Succeeded by William Dummer (acting)
Preceded by George Vaughan (acting)	Governor of the Province of New Hampshire October 5, 1716 – January 1, 1723	Succeeded by John Wentworth (acting)