Who was Sir William Phips? Colonial governor of Massachusetts is said to have dug the infamous Money Pit from 'The Curse of Oak Island'
NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA: Season 11 of 'The Curse of Oak Island' is finally here, and fans of the long-running series are as excited as ever to dig back in. Many recognizable names and concepts are introduced to viewers during the season premiere, probably none more notably than Sir William Phips, the first governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
Phips, a resident of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was a 17th-century adventurer born in Maine. James, his father, died when he was six years old. His mother, Mary, later married John White, a neighbor and business friend.
He looked after his family's sheep flock until he turned eighteen, then quickly began a four-year apprenticeship as a ship carpenter.
In 1673, he moved to Boston to enhance his carpentry skills. He finally became a treasure hunter, later becoming involved in a number of notable historical events, including the Salem witch trials and the alleged establishment of the Oak Island Money Pit, through various means.
Sir William Phips apparently hid his loot from a Spanish shipwreck in the Oak Island Money Pit
Fans of the History series will recognize certain details of Sir William Phips' purported link to the Nova Scotian Prize, but the overall premise of his possible involvement is likely wilder than they can recall. And, based on the Season 11 opener, his posthumous role in the Laginas' decade-long treasure search will only expand from here.
The hypothesis, as stated on author Hammerson Peters' YouTube channel, goes somewhat like this: Phips was a successful 17th-century explorer, with the English funding his trips. When King James II came to power in 1685, the Protestant majority, including political leaders and the aristocracy, despised the Catholic ruler.
Simply put, they wanted to depose him. An opponent of King James II who fled to Holland when the king came to power persuaded the Protestant King William III of the Netherlands to join forces with the English to destroy King James II. King William III needed funds to fund the war.
This is where the treasure—and Phips—come into play. Phips discovered a Spanish shipwreck filled with riches on a previous trip supported by English nobility.
On their first pillage of the disaster, he and his gang made around $4 million in today's money. When Phips returned to England, the renegade Protestants persuaded him to return with a larger company from Holland and gather more wealth to fuel the invasion.
After all, Phips had his own issues with King James II, who refused to allow Massachusetts to self-govern despite the former's gifts of riches. After robbing the destroyed ship a second time, the crew from Holland sailed back to Holland with silver money to bankroll the victorious invasion that overthrew King James II in 1688.
However, Phips and his crew traveled to Oak Island to bury the rest of the riches for safekeeping, possibly digging the famed "Money Pit."
According to theory, during digging, an underground tunnel collapsed, filling the pit and leaving the wealth in a perilous and unrecoverable situation. Phips and his soldiers shut the Money Pit and traveled to England to alert them of the major situation.
Secret engineering squads were sent to the island several times but were unable to recover the wealth. By the 1750s, the British Crown had determined that if they couldn't have the riches, no one else could.
The British then apparently booby-trapped the island, resulting in the discovery of shafts and flood tunnels by modern-day explorers. However, the treasure is still undiscovered.
How much treasure did Sir William Phips recover from a sunken Spanish galleon?
Sir William Phips proceeded to the Caribbean with his crew and ship, discovering significant wealth in the water in 1687 when he and his ship, the James and Mary, came upon the ruin of the Spanish ship, Concepcion.
The team took between £205,000 and £210,000 ($251,101-$257,225) in treasure, which was a huge sum of money for the day.
Sir William Phips' wife was accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials
The Salem Village settlement in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (now Danvers, Massachusetts) was very tiny in the late 1600s and going through a time of turbulence with no political supervision. T
here was a social rift between the village's main families, as well as a schism between factions supporting and opposing the new pastor, Samuel Parris.
When four young village girls (two of whom were Parris's cousins) began exhibiting unusual mannerisms and fits, they were pressed to identify the person who had bewitched them. Their first charges were followed by trials, panic, and a frenzy that led to more accusations, frequently between opposing groups.
The governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Sir William Phips, intervened to bring some formality to the proceedings following weeks of unofficial hearings. In the following year, several trials were held and jail sentences were handed to numerous individuals.
Accusations spread from Salem Village to neighboring settlements as the trials went on. Governor Phips once again intervened when his wife was charged, directing the creation of a new court that would not accept so-called spectral evidence.
By May 1693, Phips had pardoned all those detained on charges of witchcraft, whether they were found guilty or not. Till then, 19 individuals had been hung and five more had died in jail.
One man was also crushed beneath huge stones until he died.
‘The Curse of Oak Island’ cast finds close relationship between Lot 5 artifacts and privateer Sir William Phips
'Heavy Lifting' is the new title for 'The Curse of Oak Island' Season 11, Episode 2. In the next episode of the show, Rick Lagina, Marty Lagina, and their incredible crew will be seen chasing a tunnel that may go right beneath the Garden Shaft and into the Baby Blob.
According to previous investigations, the Baby Blob had significant quantities of gold and silver residues. Moreover, Lot 5 artifacts appear to have a tight association with privateer Sir William Phips, making their search even more exciting.
This also means that the team is a tad bit closer to unearthing the much-coveted treasure, which is said to be the loot acquired by Phips from a sunken Spanish galleon.
'The Curse of Oak Island' Season 11 airs on Tuesdays at 9 pm on History.