Samuel Shute
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Samuel Shute (January 12, 1662 - April 15, 1742) was born in London. He was a grandson of the Puritan Nonconformist Joseph Caryl and educated at the University of Leyden but later adhered to the Church of England. Entering the army, he served under the Prince of Orange, and afterward under the Duke of Marlborough in the Netherlands, attaining the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
He arrived in Boston in October of 1716 to take up the Royal Governorship. His difficulties in office stemmed in large part from lingering mistrust created by Joseph Dudley's administration. He found himself challenged by the rest of the Colony's government. The legislature quarreled with him over his salary (they voted £500; he insisted on £1000; they ended up giving him £360), the issuance of currency (he wanted to emit treasury bills; they favored a banking scheme), and defense against native tribes (with whom he tried to make treaties). He also refused to recognize the election of Elisha Cooke as Speaker; he had annulled Cooke's election to the council after a dispute with him over royal rights to ship timber in Maine. He was further besieged by his own Lieutenant Governor in New Hampshire, who claimed full gubernatorial powers anytime Shute was away from that province.
In 1723, Shute returned to England to press the King and legislature for increased support while his Lieutenant Governor, William Dummer, administered the Colony. The Crown was unable to offer any workable solution, but allowed Governor Shute to serve the remaining years of his term in London, after which he retired to enjoy a pension in private life. When Shute was about to sail again for Massachusetts, in June, 1727, the king died, and the new cabinet that came into office appointed another governor.
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| Preceded by William Tailer (acting) |
Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony October 5, 1716 — January 1, 1723 |
Succeeded by William Dummer (acting) |
