William Edward Phillips (born 1769) was a British army officer and colonial administrator. He was acting governor of the Prince of Wales' Island on numerous occasions.

Life

He was the son of General

William Phillips William Phillips may refer to: Entertainment * William Phillips (editor) (1907–2002), American editor and co-founder of ''Partisan Review'' * William T. Phillips (1863–1937), American author * William Phillips (director), Canadian film-maker ...

. He went to India in 1787, a cadet in the forces of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. In Penang in 1800, he became secretary to

George Alexander William Leith Major General Sir George Alexander William Leith, 2nd Baronet (1766 – 25 January 1842) was the first Lieutenant-Governor of Prince of Wales' Island (Penang Island), replacing George Caunter, a magistrate who was acting superintendent following ...

, and after that to

Robert Townsend Farquhar Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, 1st Baronet (1776 – 16 March 1830) was an influential British merchant of the early nineteenth century who served as a colonial governor and Member of Parliament. During his lengthy service for both the East India ...

. He was then in charge until the arrival of

Philip Dundas Philip Dundas (baptised 7 May 1762 – 8 April 1807) was a Scottish East India Company naval officer, president of the East India Marine Board, and superintendent of Bombay. He returned to Britain and became a member of parliament and returned to ...

with full powers, and Phillips was at that point given a customs post. Further sets of circumstances then saw Phillips govern Prince of Wales' Island, in an acting capacity, which he did in total six times. They included #The death of newly arrived Lieutenant-Governor

Charles Andrew Bruce Charles Andrew Bruce (1768–1810) was briefly Governor of Prince of Wales Island (now called Penang) from March 24, 1810, until his death in office in December 1810. He is buried at the Old Protestant Cemetery, George Town, Penang, now in pr ...

, December 1810, till

Archibald Seton Archibald Seton (1758 – 30 March 1818) was a Scottish East India Company colonial administrator, Resident and Civil servant. Bengal Service Seton was the son of Hugh Smith who, on marrying Elizabeth Seton of Touch in 1745, had taken his wi ...

arrived in 1811. #The death of Lieutenant-governor

William Petrie William Petrie (1747 – 27 October 1816) was a British officer of the East India Company in Chennai (formerly Madras) during the 1780s, and was Governor of Prince of Wales Island (Penang Island) from 1812 to 1816. An amateur astronomer, Petrie he ...

in 1816 till the arrival of Colonel

John Alexander Bannerman Colonel John Alexander Bannerman (5 June 1759 – 8 August 1819) was appointed Governor of Prince of Wales' Island (Penang Island, Malaysia) and Province Wellesley (Seberang Perai) (both forming the settlement of Penang) in 1817 and also Treas ...

in 1817. #The death of Bannerman in 1819, until he was appointed Lieutenant-governor in 1820. Phillips then served as Governor of Prince of Wales' Island from 1820, frustrating the hopes for the post of

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

Family

Phillips married in 1818 Janet Bannerman, daughter of Colonel John Alexander Bannerman. Their second son was the barrister Charles Palmer Phillips; and their third son was William Cornwallis Phillips of the

Madras Army The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government ...

. The Phillips marriage was part of a

double wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

, in which

Henry Burney Henry Burney (27 February 1792 – 4 March 1845) or Hantri Barani ( th, หันตรีบารนี) in Thai, was a British commercial traveller and diplomat for the British East India Company. His parents were Richard Thomas Burney (1768 ...

married another Janet Bannerman. She was the daughter of the Rev. James Patrick Bannerman, brother of Colonel Bannerman.Keppel Garnier, ''Early Days In Penang'', Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Vol. 1, No. 1 (87) (April 1923), pp. 5–12, at p. 9. Published by: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society

References

External links

Phillips, William Edward
(

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1810–1826) Governor of Penang {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, William Edward 1769 births History of Penang Governors of Penang Administrators in British Penang Date of death unknown

Life

Family

References

Further reading

External links