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 Germany, who, having settled in England, maintained his family as a teacher of languages, although his former occupation appears to have been that of a steward. His mother was Elizabeth Breach, and Phillip's father was her second husband. Her first husband was a Captain Herbert of the Royal Navy, who was, it is said, a relative of Lord Pembroke, and it is possible that Phillip's career in the navy may have been influenced in some degree by his mother's former marriage.

Destined for the sea, he was sent at the age of thirteen to Greenwich School, in an old list of the boys of which his entrance is recorded as follows:—

'Date of admission, 24th June 1751; occupation of father, steward; name of applicant, Arthur Phillip; age, 12¾ years; date when left, 1st December 1753; period bound for, seven years; to whom bound, William Readhead; ship, Fortune, 210 tons burden, trading to Greenland.'

Evidently, however, young Phillip remained but a short time in the Fortune, for at seventeen, according to his Voyage, a work published in 1789, he was, at the commencement of hostilities in 1755, serving under Captain Michael Everet, and learning 'the rudiments of his profession under that able officer.'

Six years later, at the age of twenty-three, he was serving as lieutenant of the Stirling Castle under Sir George Pococke, one of the best officers of the period. It seems, however, that he found no opportunity of distinguishing himself in the King's service,