William Shields, III

William & brother James were deported by Oliver Cromwell to Barbados in 1655 in his persecution of the Irish (they may have been conscripted to serve in the invasion of Spanish America â€" the "Western Design" that collapsed at Hispaniola in that year). Both relocated to Middle Plantation (now Williamsburg, Virginia) in 1658 as indentured servants

William and his younger brother James seem to have been involved in the roundups and deportation of young Irish men during the Commonwealth Period (1653-1659) under Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell. Their principal offense was the fact that they were Irish. Accounts report the family was greatly harassed, and younger sons were kept in concealment for much of their youth. (Their 2 younger brothers were younger born in the 1640s.) This harrassment suggests that, for whatever reasons, the Shields' were in particular disfavor with Cromwell and the "Roundheads." Family histories and tradition hold that William and James were both exiled while in their early twenties to Barbados in the West Indies. At this time, during the middle 17th century, Barbados was an important British trading center and had a greater European population than the entire North American mainland. How they survived their exile we do not know, but family history is agreed that within less than two years they managed to take passage via a slave ship to Virginia, arriving around 1655 at Middle Plantation, the site of present-day Williamsburg. Much information concerning William Shields' descendants is to be found in the Bruton Church records of the city.

The subsequent histories of the two older Shields brothers is extensively chronicled, chiefly in books by the late John Arthur Shields, the late John Edgar Shields, and other descendant members of the resultant family lines. Other accounts exist which connect these two Shields immigrants (William and James) with the two younger sons (Daniel and John) of William 1600, the youngest of whom, John Shields (ca. 1640), was the progenitor of the line. William (the oldest), remained in Williamsburg, becoming a tavern keeper. William became the owner and operator of Shields Ordinary, a noted inn and tavern of the day. The tavern is noted occasionally in constabulary records, as one assumes for occasional breaches of the peace. Shields Tavern has been restored within the past two decades as one of Colonial Williamsburg's historical points of interest and informal dining establishments, and has become a popular stop on tours of the restoration.

William became the progenitor of a lengthy family line. Later generations migrated elsewhere in Virginia, to the river settlements in North Carolina, and ultimately into Indiana Territory around 1800. Various genealogical works treat with the resultant lines which, collectively, are sometimes referred to as "the Williamsburg line." Among prominent Americans in this branch of the family were President John Tyler, and William Tyler Page.

William migrated to Kent Country, Maryland where he gave rise to the prominent Tennessee political clan, the New Orleans family of white jazz musicians.