Herbert Philips

Last updated

Herbert Philips of Sutton Oaks, Macclesfield, Cheshire was a philanthropist and justice of the peace.

Contents

Background

Herbert Philips was the great grandson of Nathaniel Philips, who co-founded, with his elder brother John, a tape manufacturing business in the mid-eighteenth century that became J. and N. Philips and Co. This company became one of Manchester's leading commercial enterprises, specialising in the weaving of narrow tape. By the mid-nineteenth century the extended Philips family held properties and businesses throughout Lancashire, Cheshire and Staffordshire along with the family seats in Heybridge and Heath House, Staffordshire. Herbert was the third son and youngest child of Robert Philips and Laetitia née Hibbert. [1]

Herbert Philips' father's first cousin was Mark Philips, the elected Member of Parliament for Manchester following the campaign for Manchester's enfranchisement by the 1832 Reform Act. Mark Philips was instrumental in the provision of public open spaces, leading in 1846 to the first public park in Manchester which still bears his name: Philips Park. [2]

Clean Air Provision

Herbert Philips retained this commitment for clean air provision for the masses with his establishment of the permanent society, ‘The Committee for Securing Open Spaces for Recreation’ of which he was the Chairman and Treasurer. Likewise he founded the ‘Noxious Vapours Abatement Association’ to promote the control of chemical and industrial smoke nuisances in Manchester and Salford which proved so harmful to vegetation within these open spaces. [3] He gave a member's address to the Manchester Statistical Society in 1896 entitled 'Open Spaces for Recreation in Manchester'. [4]

Philanthropy

His philanthropic works were extensive, and included numerous educational and recreational ventures. He is credited by the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography as being one of the founding supporters of the National Trust. [5] [ citation needed ] He was president of the Young Men’s Christian Association based at the headquarters at 56 Peter Street Manchester. This led to his involvement in the Manchester Women's Christian Temperance Association (MWCTA) which used the YMCA building for its committee meetings.

Christian Temperance

In October 1889 it was reported in the Manchester Guardian that Herbert Philips Esq., J.P. of Sutton Oaks Macclesfield had presided over a Police Court Mission meeting at the YMCA on Peter Street and he reported that £700 had been raised and an inebriate's home at Ash Lodge, Halliwell Lane, Cheetham was being negotiated. He suggested that what was needed was to commit habitual offenders to such homes for a period of one to three years. [6] At the AGM of the MWCTA in April 1890 it was reported that Herbert Philips Esq., J.P. had bought a house, namely ‘The Grove’ on Egerton Road, Fallowfield and had leased it to the committee on nominal terms for another such inebriate home or retreat. [7]

Freedom of the City of Manchester

He was awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester in 1897. [8] He was commissioned as a major in the 1st Manchester Volunteer Rifles and on his death he was honoured with a memorial service at Manchester Cathedral. His obituaries in the Manchester Guardian were numerous and extensive. The MWCTA memorial resolution stated their members,

'Greatly record the help and counsel so often received and so cheerfully accorded by him, their admiration for the steady and unostentatious support given to every cause which had for its aim the alleviation of suffering or the uplifting of the fallen, and especially for the way in which he championed the cause of the tortured and defenceless'. [9]

Herbert Philips was walking home on a country lane from Church with his wife on Sunday 5 November 1905 when he became unwell and collapsed. He was taken into a cottage nearby but died shortly afterwards without reaching his home. His funeral service was held at his childhood parish church of St Mary's Checkley and was buried in the family burial ground. His wife Ellen Josephine (Nelly) née Langton died in 1919 and was buried alongside.

Notes

  1. ↑ Family pedigree and archive
  2. ↑ "Philips Park". medlockvalley.org.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  3. ↑ T. Swindells, Manchester Streets and Manchester Men, (Manchester, J.E. Cornish Ltd 1908) 3rd Series pp 55-64,
  4. ↑ T.S. Ashton, Economic and Social investigations ion Manchester 1833-1933, (Sussex: The Harvester Press 1934) p.158.
  5. ↑ http://www.oxforddnb.com -National Trust 15.12.2012
  6. ↑ He had offered the sum of £200 if a further £600 could be raised within six months. He further stated that under the Habitual Drunkards Act a person could sign away their liberty for up to 12 months. Manchester Guardian 2 October 1889.
  7. ↑ Greater Manchester County Records Office with Manchester Archive, Manchester Women's Christian Temperance Association and Police Courts Mission, Executive minutes GB127,M286.1 Archived 4 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Displayed by the Manchester Archive on Flickr 15.12.2012
  9. ↑ The Manchester Guardian 9 November 1905. 15.12.2012

Related Research Articles

University of Salford Public university in Salford, England

The University of Salford is a public university in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, 1 mile west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, became a College of Advanced Technology in 1956 and gained university status in 1967, following the Robbins Report into higher education.

Paul Goggins British politician

Paul Gerard Goggins was a British Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wythenshawe and Sale East from 1997 until his death in January 2014. He was also previously a Minister of State at the Northern Ireland Office.

Independent Order of Rechabites Fraternal organisation and friendly society, 1835-

The Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), also known as the Sons and Daughters of Rechab, is a fraternal organisation and friendly society founded in England in 1835 as part of the wider temperance movement to promote total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Always well connected in upper society and involved in financial matters, it gradually transformed into a financial institution which still exists, and still promotes abstinence. The Order has been active in Australia from 1843, promoting temperance and as a benefit society. A branch was established in the United States in 1842, and also flourished for a time. In the United Kingdom, the Order trades under the name of Healthy Investment.

City of Salford City and Metropolitan borough in England

The City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, named after its main settlement Salford. The borough extends west from Salford to include the towns of Eccles, Worsley, Swinton, Walkden, Little Hulton, and Irlam. The city has a population of 245,600, and is administered from the Salford Civic Centre in Swinton.

Phil Neville English association football player and manager

Philip John Neville is an English football manager and former player, who is the head coach of MLS team Inter Miami. He is also the co-owner of Salford City, along with several of his former Manchester United teammates.

United Kingdom Alliance

The United Kingdom Alliance (UKA) was a temperance movement in the United Kingdom founded in 1853 in Manchester to work for the prohibition of the trade in alcohol in the United Kingdom. This occurred in a context of support for the type of law passed by General Neal Dow in Maine, United States, in 1851, prohibiting the sale of intoxicants.

White Ribbon Association

The White Ribbon Association (WRA), previously known as the British Women's Temperance Association (BWTA), is an organization that seeks to educate the public about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, as well as gambling.

Kersal Moor Mountain in the United Kingdom

Kersal Moor is a recreation area in Kersal, Greater Manchester, England which consists of eight hectares of moorland bounded by Moor Lane, Heathlands Road, St. Paul's Churchyard and Singleton Brook.

William Cowherd

William Cowherd was a Christian minister serving a congregation in the City of Salford, England, immediately west of Manchester, and one of the philosophical forerunners of the Vegetarian Society founded in 1847. He was the founder of the Bible Christian Church; Cowherd advocated and encouraged members of his then small group of followers, known as "Cowherdites", to abstain from the eating of meat as a form of temperance.

Peel Park, Salford Urban park

Peel Park is a public urban park in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, located on the flood plain of the River Irwell below Salford Crescent and adjacent to the University of Salford. It was the first of three public parks to be opened on 22 August 1846, for the people of Manchester and Salford, paid for by public subscription. The park was the main public venue for the 1851 royal visit of Queen Victoria to Manchester and Salford and has been the subject of a number of paintings by the Salford artist, L.S. Lowry.

Samuel Renn was an English organ builder who ran a business in Stockport, and later he traded in Manchester. The surviving instruments are mainly in churches, although a house organ is also known.

Joseph Brotherton British politician

Joseph Brotherton was a reforming British politician, Nonconformist minister and pioneering vegetarian. He has been described as the first vegetarian member of parliament.

Greengate, Salford Human settlement in England

Greengate is an area of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is bounded by the River Irwell, Victoria Bridge Street and Chapel Street, Blackfriars Road and Trinity Way. Greengate is the original historic core of Salford and sits within the easternmost part of the City of Salford. Greengate is currently experiencing a period of intensive development activity and growth, benefiting from its location just across the River Irwell from the City of Manchester.

Albert Bridge, Manchester

Albert Bridge is a Grade II listed skew arch bridge in Greater Manchester, England. A replacement for an earlier structure, New Bailey Bridge, it was completed in 1844. It crosses the River Irwell, connecting Salford to Manchester.

Temperance – moderation, self-restraint, esp in eating and drinking, moderate use of, or total abstinence from, alcoholic liquors as beverages; ~ society etc. for restriction or abolition of use of alcoholic drinks. L temperantia.

Philip Damian Power is an English football manager and former professional footballer who played in the Football League, as a forward. He was most recently manager at Salford City, and was recently featured in the BBC documentary, Class of '92: Out of Their League.

Elijah Dixon was a textile worker, businessman, and agitator for social and political reform from Newton Heath, Manchester, England. He was prominent in the 19th century Reform movement in industrial Lancashire, and an associate of some of its leading figures, including Ernest Jones, and his obituary claims that he was called "the Father of English Reformers". His activism led to arrest and detention for suspected high treason, alongside some other leading figures of the movement, and he was present at key events including the Blanketeers' March and the Peterloo massacre. In later life he became a successful and wealthy manufacturer. He was the uncle of William Hepworth Dixon.

Thomas Coglan Horsfall (1841–1932) was a noted philanthropist, town planner, writer and founder of the Manchester Art Museum in Ancoats Hall.

Norman Kerr

Norman Shanks Kerr was a Scottish physician who is remembered for his work in the British temperance movement. He originated the Total Abstinence Society and was founder and first president of the Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety which was founded in 1884.

Bernard Swindell was a British trade unionist, who served as chairman of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers (NUGMW).

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.