Records of William Shirley on Ancestry

Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of William Shirley in your family tree. A vast range of data is available to search ranging from census records, births, deaths and marriages, military records and immigration records to name but a few. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.

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Country Collection
Globe Ancestry.com Global records search results for William Shirley.
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DNA

Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. A DNA test can sometimes help to make a link to a particular family name if you find you share common DNA with people who have the same or similar surnames as each other. If you are lucky then you may get a match within a few generations and discover some Shirley ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!

Unlock your DNAHave you reached a brick wall in your Shirley Tree?

Birth, Death and Marriage Records for William Shirley and the Shirley Genealogy

Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Shirley Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources listed below it will be possible to locate a birth record and, from that record, a birth certificate may be obtainable which is likely to list the names of the parents, therefore taking you back another generation. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Shirley family tree.

Study Parish Records for William Shirley at Find My Past.

Investigate for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of William Shirley using the FreeBMD database.

Search Genealogy BankGenealogy Bank for William Shirley records.

Study MyHeritage for William Shirley information.

Investigate the LDS Database for records about William Shirley.

Research the Shirley surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Shirley Military records.

ukDid you know that there are currently 4000 people with the Shirley surname in the UK? Shirley is now ranked number 1443 for popularity in the UK.

Shirley Genealogy Databases

Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.

Look at the WikiTree database for user contributed records for William Shirley.

Study MyTrees for information on the Shirley family and people looking to contact living Shirley relations.

Explore One Great Family for Shirley records submitted by people who are already researching the Shirley Family Tree.

Find William Shirley from Ireland on findmypast.ie

Shirley Forums

There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.

Research the Shirley surname using Genealogy.com forums .

ukDid you know that there are currently 36459 people with the Shirley surname in the USA? Shirley is ranked number 145 for popularity in the USA.

Miscellaneous Shirley Databases

Check out the Ellis Island Database for information on William Shirley. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.

Comments

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Some Famous People called William Shirley

William Shirley

William Shirley (2 December 1694 – 24 March 1771) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of the British American colonies of Massachusetts Bay and the Bahamas. He is best known for his role in organizing the successful capture of Louisbourg during King George's War, and for his role in managing military affairs during the French and Indian War. He spent most of his years in the colonial administration of British North America working to defeat New France, but his lack of formal military training led to political difficulties and his eventual downfall.

Politically well connected, Shirley began his career in Massachusetts as advocate general in the admiralty court, and quickly became an opponent of Governor Jonathan Belcher. He joined with Belcher's other political enemies to bring about Belcher's recall, and was appointed Governor of Massachusetts Bay in Belcher's place. He successfully quieted political divisions within the province, and was able to bring about united action against New France when King George's War began in 1744. The successful capture of Louisbourg, which Shirley had a major role in organizing, was one of the high points of his administration.

After King George's War Shirley became mired in disputes over funding and accounting for the war effort, and returned to England in 1749 to deal with political and legal matters arising from those disputes. He was then assigned to a commission established by Great Britain and France to determine the colonial borders in North America. His hard-line approach to these negotiations contributed to their failure, and he returned to Massachusetts in 1753.

Military matters again dominated Shirley's remaining years in Massachusetts, with the French and Indian War beginning in 1754. Shirley led a military expedition to reinforce Fort Oswego in 1755, and became Commander-in-Chief, North America upon the death of General Edward Braddock. His difficulties in organizing expeditions in 1755 and 1756 were compounded by political disputes with New York politicians, and over military matters with Indian agent Sir William Johnson. These disagreements led to his recall in 1757 as both Commander-in-Chief and as governor. In his later years he served as governor of the Bahamas, before returning to Massachusetts, where he died.

Source: William Shirley, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Other names that sound a bit like Shirley

Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.

Sarl Sarle Sarley Sarll Sarrell Sauriol Scherle Scheuerle Schroll Schruhl Scurrell Searil Searl Searle Searley Serle Serrell Sharlow Shearley Sheirlaw Sherel Sherlaw Sherrell Sherrill Sherwell Sherwil Sherwill Shirel Shiril Shirlaw Shirlee Shirly Shirrell Shorley Shrawley Shroll Shurlee Shurley Shurly Sirl Sirol Sirrell Skerl Sorel Sorell Sorley Sorlie Sorrel Sorrell Sorrelle Sorrill Squirl Squirrel Squirrell Sral Srawley Surely Surrell