I am of opinion that it is highly requisite forthwith to pass a law, prohibiting upon great penalties all trade with our enemies, and more especially the supplying of them with arms, ammunition or provisions of any kind whatsoever.

Expected support from Britain never arrived however and the 1746 expeditions were called off. While he was in London word arrived that Clinton wanted to leave his post. After Shirley had returned home that afternoon the mob which had seized another naval officer and several petty officers returned to his house.

In his later years he served as governor of the Bahamas before returning to Massachusetts where he died. William Shirley (2 December 1694 – 24 March 1771) was a British colonial administrator who served as governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (1741–1749 and 1753–1756) and as Governor of the Bahamas in the 1760s. He again played a prominent role in military affairs during the French and Indian War briefly serving as Commander-in-Chief North America.