John Phillips

The idea that he was a minister seems to have come from the unreliable work of Richard Ripley, who wrote: "The birth records of John Phillips' children indicate a pattern of movement of his family from Cornwall through Devon. (Cornwall/Shropshire contains many parish churches which were used by families deriving from the ancestral Phillips home, Picton Castle, the Phillips estate. Picton Castle is still occupied by the Phillips family, but was taken over by the National Trust in 1982; no wonder, it is one of the largest castles and estates in all of the United Kingdom - it may be visited today.) Similar patterns in other members of John's immediate family line were traced because the father was a pastor. Given the number of clerical offspring in this family, and the extent of family involvement with serious religious concerns and settlement, it is very likely that John was a clergyman. I will post evidence of this as it becomes available." (emphasis added)

He is not listed in the Clergy of the Church of England Database.

Sources

• Richard Ripley, The Roads Taken: Records and Stories of Our Families (in Progress) (2003). unreliable
• Clergy of the Church of England Database, accessed May 3, 2015.