Brief Life History of William W
When William W Shirley was born in 1774, in Sandston, Henrico, Virginia, British Colonial America, his father, John Robert Shirley Sr, was 36 and his mother, Elizabeth Barmore, was 31. He married Jane Mattison about 1797, in South Carolina, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He died on 13 May 1827, in Abbeville, South Carolina, United States, at the age of 53.
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1775
"Patrick Henry made his ""Give me Liberty or Give me Death"" speech in Richmond Virginia."
1776 · Battle of Sullivan's Island
On June 28, 1776, the Battle of Sullivan's Island takes place on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina. Since it is so close to Charelston, the battle is sometimes referred to as the First Siege of Charleston. This is the first time that the Americans had a victory against a land and sea attack by the British.
1789
George Washington elected first president of United States.
Name Meaning
English: habitational name from any of the places so named, such as Shirley (Warwickshire), Shirley in Millbrook (Hampshire), Shirley (Surrey), Shirley in Owston (Yorkshire), and Shirley (Derbyshire). The placenames probably derive from Old English scīr ‘bright’ + lēah ‘woodland clearing’, though some may have scīr ‘district, shire’ as the initial element if they lie on a boundary; for example, the Warwickshire place lies on the Warwickshire-Worcestershire boundary. The name Shirley first appears in Ireland in the late 17th century, following the granting of lands to a Shirley family in the barony of Farney, Monaghan.
History: William Shirley (1694–1771) was born in Sussex, England, and came to MA in 1731. He rose in the colonial service, was appointed governor in 1741, and was responsible for the British capture of the French fortress of Louisbourg, Cape Breton Island, in 1745.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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