account as a mining engineer and consulting metallurgist in London. From 1848 to 1850 he was also professor of metallurgy at the college for civil engineers, Putney; and again, later in life, lectured at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in 1875 and 1877.
In 1853 he went to California, remaining there twelve months, but returning thither in 1865, and again in 1866. During these two visits he made a number of observations on the connection between hot springs and mineral vein-deposits, which were embodied in an important paper, published by the Geological Society of London (Journal, xxxv. 390). He continued to reside in London till 1868, but made frequent professional journeys to various parts of Europe and to North Africa, besides those already named. In the latter year he went to Liverpool to build and manage the works of the Widnes Metal Company. The undertaking proved to be so prosperous that he was able to return to London in 1877, and afterwards to retire from business. He married Mary Ann Andrew, daughter of George Andrew of Carne, St. Mewan, Cornwall, on 1 Jan. 1850, and died suddenly on 4 Jan. 1887, at 18 Fopstone Road, S.W., leaving a son and a daughter.
He was elected a fellow of the Geological Society in 1872, and was a vice-president at his death. He became F.R.S. in 1881, was also F.C.S. and member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. Of all these, his extensive and accurate knowledge, always at the service of his friends, his sound judgment, and sterling integrity, made him a valued member.
His scientific papers were numerous, and exceptionally valuable because of his scrupulous accuracy, his excellence as a chemist, and his wide and varied experience in the field. In addition to these qualifications he was one of the first to devote himself to the study of the microscopic structure of minerals and rocks, sections of which were prepared by himself with remarkable skill. Among his more important papers were two on the ‘Greenstones’ of Cornwall, one on the rocks of the mining districts of Cornwall, with others on the chemical and mineralogical changes in certain eruptive rocks of North Wales, on the constitution and history of grits and sandstones, and on concretionary patches and fragments of other rocks contained in granite—all published in the ‘Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London.’ He also contributed to the ‘Proceedings of the Royal Society,’ the ‘Philosophical Magazine,’ the ‘Chemical News,’ and other scientific journals. Besides sundry pamphlets, he also published a work in 1867 on the ‘Mining and Metallurgy of Gold and Silver;’ a ‘Manual of Metallurgy’ in 1852, on the fourth edition of which he was engaged, in collaboration with Mr. Bauerman, at the time of his death; and a ‘Treatise on Ore Deposits’ in 1884.
[Boase and Courtney's Bibliotheca Cornubiensis; Royal Society Cat. of Scientific Papers; obituary notices in Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. Proc. xliii. 41; Geol. Mag. 1887, p. 142; Times, 7 Jan. 1887; Boase's Collectanea; private information from A. G. Phillips, esq. (son).]
PHILLIPS, JOHN ROLAND (1844–1887), lawyer and antiquary, was the only son of David Phillips of Cilgerran, Pembrokeshire, where he was born in June 1844. He received no regular education, but at an early age entered a solicitor's office in the neighbouring town of Cardigan. His legal studies led him to take a great interest in the history and antiquities of the district, and in August 1866 he won the prize offered at Cardigan Eisteddfod for the best essay on the ‘History of Cilgerran.’ The publication of the essay in an enlarged form early in 1867 (London) was followed by his settlement in London. He entered Lincoln's Inn in November 1867, and was called on 10 June 1870. Literary work still took up much of his time; he was employed by the Duke of Norfolk to put the Howard muniments in order; in 1874 appeared his ‘Memoirs of the Civil War in Wales and the Marches’ (London, Longmans), and, in conjunction with Mr. J. F. B. Firth, he was also employed in accumulating the evidence with regard to the history and management of the city companies which led to the appointment of the commission of 1880. He was the first secretary of the Cymrodorion Society, when revived in 1873. On the formation of West Ham as a separate police district, he was appointed (22 June 1881) its first stipendiary magistrate. To the second volume of Cobden Club essays on ‘Local Government and Taxation’ (1882), he contributed that on ‘Local Taxation in England and Wales.’ He died at South Hampstead on 3 June 1887, after a long illness.
Phillips's chief work is that on the civil war, which comprises one volume of narrative and another of illustrative documents. He also wrote an outline of the history of Glamorgan (privately printed), and a pamphlet on the Owens of Orielton, Pembrokeshire. His work was thorough, but of no marked originality.
[Times, 4 June 1887; Bygones, 8 June 1887; Law List for 1885; information kindly furnished by Mr. W. Cadwaladr Davies and Mr. Ivor James.]
