He was the second son of Sir Thomas Shirley of Wiston, Sussex and his first wife, Frances Vavasour.
Very little is known of Shirley's life other than his unfortunate death, which occurred in London at the Chancery Lane home of Sir Edward Bishopp, then a Member of Parliament for Steyning.
Sir Edward was committed by the terms of a bequest to pay Shirley an annual annuity of £40 and the latter had called to collect it.
Shirley wrote several pieces, but as almost all of them were not printed, their titles are only known thanks to their inscription in the Register of Booksellers on 9 September 1653.
According to the critic Sidney Lee, the piece is far from attractive, the work as a whole betraying the lack of professionalism of its author.