You’ll find William Phips’s story begins in 1651 as Maine’s twenty-sixth child of a gunsmith, who transformed himself from an illiterate shepherd into Boston’s most audacious salvage captain. His 1686 expedition to the Bahamas targeted the *Nuestra Señora de la Concepción*, a catastrophic 1656 Spanish wreck, ultimately recovering 65,466 pounds troy weight valued at £200,000. King James II rewarded him with knighthood in June 1687—the first native-born New Englander so honored—while his 35% Crown share secured political capital that later positioned him as Massachusetts’s colonial governor, where his judicial decisions during the Salem trials reflected lessons learned commanding mutinous treasure-seeking crews.
Key Takeaways
- William Phips, born in 1651 in Maine, rose from poverty as a ship carpenter to become a renowned treasure hunter.
- He led salvage expeditions in the 1680s to recover Spanish shipwrecks in Bahamian waters, backed by Boston merchants and royalty.
- His 1687 discovery of the *Nuestra Señora de la Concepción* yielded over £200,000 in treasure for the Crown.
- King James II knighted Phips in June 1687, making him the first native-born New Englander to receive this honor.
- Phips received £11,000 personally from the treasure recovery, with crew members receiving £8,000 to prevent mutiny.
From Humble Beginnings on the Kennebec Frontier
On February 2, 1651, William Phips entered the world as the twenty-sixth child of James and Mary Phips at Nequasset—a precarious frontier settlement that would later become Woolwich, Maine. His father, a gunsmith working near the Kennebec River’s mouth, died when Phips reached six years old.
Born twenty-sixth in a gunsmith’s frontier family, young Phips faced his father’s death at six—hardship forging the man he’d become.
You’ll find no formal education in his record—he tended sheep until eighteen, shaped entirely by wilderness hardships. Unable to read and write, young Phips grew up in an environment where Puritan governance remained weak and moral instruction scarce. This environment demanded frontier resilience from every inhabitant.
At eighteen, Phips pursued ship-carpentry apprenticeship, marking his maritime beginnings. By 1675, he’d established a shipyard on the Sheepscot River at Merrymeeting Bay, launching his first large merchant vessel in 1676. He subsequently relocated to Boston, where he befriended ship captain Roger Spencer.
An Indian raid during the Northeast Coast Campaign interrupted operations that August, yet he’d already demonstrated the self-reliance that would define his subsequent career.
Breaking Into the Salvage Business
You’ll find Phips’s entry into salvage operations began in the early 1680s when he captained the *Resolution* to Bahamian waters, targeting Spanish wrecks near New Providence with backing from Boston merchants including mintmaster John Hull.
This modest expedition—poorly documented yet profitable enough to distribute £54 shares to ordinary participants—established his credibility as a wreck-finder capable of delivering returns.
Armed with this reputation, he systematically escalated operations by securing first a loan of a naval vessel from Charles II for his 1683–84 attempt, then forming a joint-stock syndicate led by the Duke of Albemarle that contributed £3,210 to outfit his ultimately successful 1686 Hispaniola expedition. The 1683 venture required Phips to provide a £100 deposit and cover voyage expenses while designating 35% of any recovered treasure for the King. His dramatic success off Haiti in 1686 culminated when he returned to England in June 1687 with treasure valued at over £207,600, earning him a knighthood and appointment as provost marshal general of the Dominion of New England.
Early Bahamas Salvage Operations
While Captain William Phips pursued sunken Spanish galleons in distant Caribbean waters, the Bahamian archipelago had already developed a sophisticated salvage infrastructure that transformed shipwreck recovery from opportunistic scavenging into a regulated maritime industry.
The Eleutheran Adventurers recognized by the mid-17th century that maritime salvage generated superior returns compared to cultivating sparse, rocky soil. Institutionalized wrecking operations date to 1684, establishing formalized protocols decades before most colonial economies considered such ventures legitimate commerce.
Bahamian wreckers operated shallow-draft schooners purpose-built for maneuvering treacherous reef systems. By 1856, 302 licensed vessels employed 2,679 men—representing 10% of the population.
Salvaged cargo accounted for over one-third of declared imports during the 1850s, demonstrating how systematic wreck recovery became foundational to island economies. You’ll find this decentralized maritime enterprise operated largely beyond metropolitan oversight. All salvaged goods required transport to Nassau for official appraisal and auction, ensuring the colonial government maintained oversight and collected revenue from this lucrative trade. The most notorious raid on salvage operations occurred when the Flying Gang pirates attacked Spanish salvagers recovering treasure from the 1715 fleet, establishing their fearsome reputation throughout the Caribbean.
Building Investor Relationships
Unlike the established Bahamian salvage networks that operated through community consensus and local licensing, breaking into Caribbean treasure hunting required assembling financial backers who could absorb catastrophic losses across multiple expeditions.
You’d need credibility built through documented recoveries—Phips leveraged his Bahamas success where participants received £54 shares to secure higher-tier support.
Investor networking demanded traversing colonial and metropolitan circuits; after initial voyages, he sailed to England where financial negotiations with the Duke of Albemarle’s consortium secured two large vessels.
Royal connections through naval contacts like Narborough proved essential—King Charles II’s participation signaled legitimacy to hesitant merchants.
The July 1683 articles of agreement formalized terms: 35% royal share, crew shares replacing wages, and £100 deposits ensuring commitment.
This capital structure transformed salvage from opportunistic ventures into speculative enterprises requiring sophisticated risk distribution.
Phips’s successful salvage of 34 tons of treasure demonstrated the viability of joint stock companies in high-risk maritime ventures, popularizing the concept among subsequent treasure hunting expeditions.
Such financial models enabled continuous learning from failed attempts, as investors could spread risk across multiple voyages while accumulating knowledge about Caribbean navigation, weather patterns, and shipwreck locations that informed future expeditions.
Because treasure hunting in hostile Caribbean waters demanded military protection and governmental legitimacy, Phips pursued Royal Navy backing as essential infrastructure rather than mere endorsement.
You’ll recognize this naval strategy when examining his 1683 acquisition of HMS *Rose of Algiers*—a warship granted by King Charles II himself.
Royal backing delivered operational capacity: he borrowed a 20-gun frigate for Boston preparations, then commanded proper convoy protection during February-April 1687 salvage operations.
The arrangement wasn’t charitable. Charles II claimed 35% of recovered treasure, later enforced by James II despite zero investment.
Yet this framework prevented rival salvagers from seizing operations and legitimized Phips’s authority over undisciplined crews. The Royal Navy transformed independent treasure hunting into state-sanctioned enterprise, establishing precedents for joint-stock expeditions. Phips’s divers employed diving bells—the primary apparatus for underwater work until about 1800—to access the Spanish wreck’s scattered cargo. While most treasure went to noble sponsors, Phips himself received approximately £12,000 from the salvage.
The Hunt for Spanish Gold in the Bahamas
By the early 1680s, Phips had positioned himself within the Bahamian salvage economy, targeting Spanish shipwrecks concentrated near New Providence where maritime traffic patterns and reef systems created predictable loss zones.
His command of the *Resolution* generated documented returns of £54 per common share, establishing his operational credibility with backers like Massachusetts mintmaster John Hull.
The profitability of these initial recoveries compelled Phips to pursue higher-value targets among the unlocated *flota* wrecks whose manifests promised exponentially greater returns than the already-worked sites in the shallow Bahamas Banks.
Early Salvage Operations Begin
In the early 1680s, Phips commanded the vessel *Resolution* on reconnaissance expeditions targeting sunken Spanish ships near New Providence in the Bahamas, initiating what would become a sustained pattern of maritime salvage operations.
Despite early challenges in documentation and navigational precision, these ventures yielded tangible returns—low-level participants received shares worth £54, attracting investment from New England mintmaster John Hull.
Phips’s emerging reputation for consistently locating submerged vessels established treasure hunting as a viable colonial enterprise rather than mere speculation.
Effective crew dynamics proved essential; guaranteed profit-sharing prevented mutiny while maintaining operational security.
His methodical approach to wreck recovery, combined with strategic investor relations, transformed maritime salvage from opportunistic scavenging into a calculated commercial venture, ultimately positioning him to pursue the legendary *Concepción* wreck.
Profitable New Providence Finds
Three years of methodical reconnaissance along the Bahamian coral reefs culminated in Phips’s most significant discovery when his mate aboard the *Resolution* spotted a sea feather waving in the crystalline waters near New Providence—a seemingly mundane observation that precipitated one of colonial America’s most lucrative salvage operations.
The divers’ initial recovery of a silver “sow” confirmed the wreck’s location, prompting intensive three-day salvage techniques that yielded solid bullion molds and 2,000 pieces of eight.
You’ll note this expedition’s treasure valuation reached £54 per share for low-level participants—substantial compensation that attracted investors like John Hull.
Despite surviving mutiny attempts and recovering modest quantities by 1685, Phips established credibility as a persistent wreck-hunter, setting precedent for his later monumental discoveries that would transform colonial enterprise.
Seeking Richer Spanish Wrecks
Following his modest New Providence recovery, Phips redirected his reconnaissance toward the most catastrophic Spanish shipwreck in Bahamian waters—the 1656 flagship disaster on Little Bahama Bank that colonial intelligence networks had documented through salvage testimonies and maritime records.
Strategic Intelligence Driving Treasure Hunting Operations:
- Double cargo capacity: Royal and private treasures consolidated from New World territories
- Documented quinto: One-fifth tax reserves designated for King Philip IV
- Failed Spanish salvage: Ten expeditions between 1656-1679 abandoned systematic recovery
- Corruption evidence: 1661 lawsuit exposed undeclared million in recovered assets
- Debris field magnitude: 13km scatter pattern indicated incomplete shipwreck salvage
The wreck’s 70km offshore position and burial under sand created operational challenges that deterred conventional salvors, yet promised unprecedented returns for innovators employing advanced diving techniques.
Securing Royal Patronage in England
Upon his triumphant return to England in June 1687, Phips transformed from colonial entrepreneur to celebrated court figure through calculated presentation of the recovered treasure.
You’ll observe how he navigated treasure negotiations with strategic precision—delivering 65,466 pounds troy weight valued over £200,000 directly to royal coffers. His £12,000 share represented carefully calibrated loyalty, ensuring King James II claimed 35% despite zero initial investment. This demonstrated acute understanding of patronage mechanics.
Royal favor materialized through June knighthood at Windsor Castle and appointment as Provost Marshal General.
At age 37, Phips became the first native-born New Englander knighted—a calculated reward for rejecting advisors who urged seizure retention. His courtroom charisma, combined with financial contribution, secured the Salee Rose for subsequent expeditions, cementing his position within imperial power structures.
Mutiny and Setbacks in the Caribbean
Phips’s newly acquired status collided with operational realities once he returned to Caribbean waters. The Rose Algier’s deteriorating condition and failed treasure searches triggered cascading mutiny dynamics that tested his command authority.
Command authority dissolved rapidly when treasure remained elusive and the ship began falling apart beneath their feet.
Crew morale collapsed after decades of fruitless wreck-hunting, with seamen demanding profitable piracy over speculative salvage operations.
Critical confrontations included:
- Armed mutineers approaching with drawn swords, threatening to throw Phips overboard
- Captain responding unarmed, leaping on the ringleader and seizing his cutlass
- Phips strewing the deck with wounded men through furious physical engagement
- Ashore plot at Bahama Banks to imprison and abandon him
- Strategic counter-operation: dragging cannons aboard, covering conspirators at gunpoint, sailing to Jamaica for crew replacement
These violent episodes demonstrated that treasure-hunting expeditions required suppressing democratic impulses favoring immediate plunder over long-term salvage prospects.
Striking It Rich on the Silver Bank
After two months of systematic grid searches yielded nothing, the expedition’s fortunes reversed on January 12, 1687, when Captain Rogers’s Native American divers identified cannon barrels protruding from the seafloor at a shoal between Ambrosia Bank and South Riff—68 nautical miles from Puerto Plata among rocks sailors termed “boilers.”
The wreck site contained debris from Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, a Spanish galleon that’d succumbed to hurricane damage nine days after departing Havana in 1641, when navigational disputes between the admiral and pilots resulted in the vessel striking Silver Bank’s shallow plateau.
From February through April 1687, Native American freedivers Jonas Abimeleck and John Pasqua executed treasure recovery operations, extracting 30 tons of silver—worth £200,000—from the silver wreck.
You’ll note Phips guaranteed crew shares beyond standard wages, preventing mutiny while securing autonomy over salvage methodology.
The Greatest Treasure Haul of the Century
Between February and mid-April 1687, Phips’s divers extracted 34 tons of treasure from Nuestra Señora de la Concepción‘s remains, establishing the expedition as the century’s most lucrative salvage operation.
The crew employed systematic recovery techniques—diving, raking, and grappling—to retrieve the cargo from shallow reef waters. You’ll find this haul transformed treasure legends into documented reality, proving maritime mysteries could yield tangible wealth.
The operation’s specifications:
- Total weight: 65,466 pounds troy (34+ tons)
- Valuation: £205,536 (equivalent to £78 million today)
- Recovery methods: Manual diving, rake retrieval, grappling hooks
- Cargo composition: Silver coins, bullion bars, gold doubloons, jewelry, artifacts
- Distribution: 35% Crown share, remainder divided among investors and crew
Phips secured £11,000 personally after £8,000 crew disbursements, preventing mutiny through guaranteed shares.
Knighthood and the Governor’s Crown
Upon returning to England with his maritime fortune, Phips received knighthood from King James II in June 1687—an unprecedented distinction that made him the first native-born New Englander elevated to this rank.
His delivery of £200,000 in treasure, including 30 tons of silver, secured both the title and immediate appointment as Provost Marshal General under Sir Edmund Andros. This knighthood legacy positioned him for Massachusetts’ governorship in 1692.
Treasure worth £200,000 transformed a ship’s captain into colonial governor through royal recognition and strategic political appointment.
You’ll find his tenure marked by significant governor’s challenges: establishing the Court of Oyer and Terminer on May 27, 1692, then disbanding it five months later when accusations spiraled toward his wife.
He prohibited spectral evidence, released 49 accused witches, and pardoned the remainder. His authority stemmed from that singular treasure voyage—transforming a ship’s captain into colonial administrator through royal recognition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Diving Techniques Did Phips Use to Recover Treasure From Deep Water?
You’ll find Phips employed Native American breath-hold diving for initial reconnaissance and shallow recovery, then deployed advanced underwater techniques using Halley-style diving bells at “The Boilers” reef, enabling his crew’s extended deep-water operations beyond free-diving limitations.
How Did Phips Prevent His Crew From Stealing the Recovered Treasure?
Phips secured £200,000 in treasure by maintaining crew loyalty through guaranteed share agreements while implementing armed treasure security measures—artillery aimed at provisions, loaded ship guns targeting potential mutineers, and avoiding all ports until reaching Gravesend.
What Happened to the Other Investors Who Funded Phips’ Expedition?
The syndicate investors achieved extraordinary 10,000% returns despite expedition risks. You’d find Duke of Albemarle received £50,000, while noble sponsors divided the majority after royal claims. Investor outcomes transformed adventure capital partnerships, demonstrating wreck salvage’s profitability.
Did Phips Return to Treasure Hunting After Becoming Massachusetts Governor?
Picture abandoned diving bells rusting in Boston Harbor—no, Phips didn’t resume treasure hunting post-1692. You’ll find Governor’s priorities consumed by witch trials, military campaigns, and colonial administration. Phips’ motivations shifted entirely from maritime salvage to governmental authority until his 1695 death.
Where Is the Treasure Phips Recovered Displayed or Stored Today?
You won’t find Phips’ original treasure display or treasure storage anywhere—it was distributed among investors and sponsors in 1687. However, you can view artifacts from modern rediscoveries at Dominican Republic’s Casas Reales and Faro Colón museums.
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Phips
- https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/william-phips-home-site-of/
- https://steemit.com/history/@donkeypong/the-amazing-life-of-sir-william-phips-treasure-hunter-general-and-governor
- https://www.heritage-history.com/index.php?c=read&author=morris&book=american1&story=phips
- https://www.newbostonhistoricalsociety.com/phips.html
- http://www.blupete.com/Hist/BiosNS/1600-00/Phips.htm
- https://www.americanheritage.com/william-phips-and-big-jackpot
- https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people/phips.html
- https://www.parthenonpodcast.com/history-of-north-america/404-captain-phips-and-the-spanish-galleon/
- https://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/nh/swph.html
