John Oliver Crompton Phillips (born 1947) is a New Zealand

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and encyclopedist. He was the general editor of '' Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', the official encyclopedia of New Zealand.

Career

Born and raised in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, Phillips graduated with a BA at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kn ...

, followed by a MA and

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1978. Returning to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

was a Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Reader in History at Victoria. He was founding director of the Stout Research Centre (established by the will of the grandson of

Robert Stout Sir Robert Stout (28 September 1844 – 19 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who was the 13th premier of New Zealand on two occasions in the late 19th century, and later Chief Justice of New Zealand. He was the only person to hold bot ...

). Moving to the

Department of Internal Affairs The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), or in te reo Māori, is the public service department of New Zealand charged with issuing passports; administering applications for citizenship and lottery grants; enforcing censorship and gambling la ...

in 1989, Phillips was Chief Historian (1989–1997 and 2000–2002) and General Manager, Heritage (Acting) (1997–2000). He was Conceptual Leader (history) for

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring f ...

1994–1998, in the lead-up to its radical transformation, accompanying its move to new waterfront premises. From 2002 to 2011, Phillips was general editor of

Te Ara ''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand'' is an online encyclopedia established in 2001 by the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The web-based content was developed in stages over the next several years; the first s ...

, (New Zealand's online encyclopedia) and then its managing editor of content from 2011 to 2014. Phillips was mentioned in cables released by

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

as an expert on New Zealanders' attitude to war: and

Honours, awards and posts

* Awarded the 2014

Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement is a New Zealand literary award established in 2003 by the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand), the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government. Each ...

in non-fiction, for his role as general editor of ''Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand''. * Appointed an

Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have re ...

, for services to historical research and publishing, in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours * 2011 recipient of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a c ...

's Pou Aronui Award for service to the humanities-aronui * Member of the Council of the

by election by the

Court of Convocation A convocation (from the Latin '' convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Greek ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose, mostly ecclesiastical or academic. In ac ...

* Member of the New Zealand-US Education Foundation since 1995 * President of the National Library Society in 1994

Published works

Te Ara Blog
contributions by Jock Phillips. November 2007– * Phillips, Jock. ''Biography in New Zealand'',

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

. . 1985. * Jock Phillips and Ellen Ellis. ''Brief Encounter: American forces and the New Zealand people, 1942–1945''. Historical Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs. , 1992. * Phillips, Jock. The '51 Lockout: The Last Hurrah. David Grant, ''The Big Blue: Snapshots of the 1951 Waterfront Lockout''.

Canterbury University Press The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was f ...

, Labour History Project. . 2004. * Phillips, Jock. Aberhart, Laurence. et al. ''The Caravan''.

McNamara Gallery Mac Conmara (anglicised as MacNamara or McNamara) is an Irish surname of a family of County Clare in Ireland. The McNamara family were an Irish clan claiming descent from the Dál gCais and, after the O'Briens, one of the most powerful famili ...

. . 2002. * Phillips, Jock. Dalley, Bronwym. ''Going Public: The Changing Face of New Zealand History''.

Auckland University Press Auckland University Press is a New Zealand publisher that produces creative and scholarly work for a general audience. Founded in 1966 and formally recognised as Auckland University Press in 1972, it is an independent publisher based within The ...

. , 2001. * Phillips, Jock. Boyack, Nicholas. Malone E.P. ''Great Adventure: New Zealand Soldiers Describe the First World War''.

. . 1988. * Phillips, Jock. Maclean Chris. ''In the Light of the Past: Stained Glass Windows in New Zealand Houses''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

. , 1983. * Phillips, Jock. ''Man's Country? The Image of the Pakeha Male, A History''.

Penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

, 1987. , 1996. * Phillips, Jock. ''New Worlds? The Comparative History of New Zealand and the United States''. NZ-US Education Foundation ; Stout Research Centre, c1989. * Phillips, Jock. ''New Zealand Memorial: 11 November 2006''. Ministry for Culture & Heritage, 2006. * Phillips, Jock ''Royal Summer: The Visit of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

and

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

to New Zealand, 1953–54''. Historical Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs; Daphne Brasell Associates Press. , 1993. * Phillips, Jock. Hearn Terry. '' Settlers: New Zealand immigrants from England, Ireland & Scotland, 1800–1945''.

. . 2008. * Phillips, Jock. Maclean Chris. ''Sorrow and the Pride: New Zealand War Memorials''; editor Debbie Willis. : Historical Branch ; GP Books. c1990. * ''Unique Sort of Battle: New Zealanders Remember Crete'' / edited by Megan Hutching ; with Ian McGibbon, Jock Phillips and David Filer ; foreword by

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

. HarperCollins New Zealand / History Group,

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government ...

. , 2001. * Phillips, Jock. ''Te Whenua, Te Iwi: The Land and the People''.

/ Port Nicholson Press / Stout Research Centre. , 1987. *Phillips, Jock. ''Making History: a New Zealand Story.''

. , 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Jock 1947 births Living people Harvard University alumni Victoria University of Wellington alumni Victoria University of Wellington faculty 20th-century New Zealand historians Encyclopedists Writers from Christchurch New Zealand public servants Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit People associated with the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 21st-century New Zealand historians