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 pitched the new settlement. On 26 Jan. 1788 he founded the city, which he christened Sydney, after, viscount Sydney, the secretary of state [q. v.]; on 7 Feb. he formally inaugurated the new government with such pomp as he could command. But anxieties soon tested Phillip's capacities; the supply of food was limited, and before the end of February a plot for a raid on the stores was discovered. It was of the first importance to make the colony self-supporting, and the soil around Sydney turned out disappointing. The unwillingness of the convicts to work became daily more apparent, and it would be long before free settlers could be induced to come over. In October 1788 Phillip despatched the Sirius to the Cape for help. The frigate returned in May 1789 with some small supplies; but even in January 1790 no tidings from England had yet reached the colony; the whole settlement was on half-rations; the troops were on the verge of mutiny, and their commanding officer was almost openly disloyal. Phillip shared in all the privations himself; kept a cheerful countenance, encouraged exploration, and made every effort to conciliate the natives. It was not till 19 Sept. 1790 that the danger of starvation was finally removed. About the same time Phillip's efforts to enter into regular relations with the natives bore fruit. On a visit to the chief, Bennilong, he was attacked and wounded by a spear; but he would allow no retaliation, and his courage produced a good effect. Bennilong sent apologies. By the firmness with which he dispensed justice to native and to convict alike, Phillip gradually won the confidence of the former, and when he left the colony in 1792 the native chiefs Bennilong and Yemmerawanme asked to accompany him to England. To exploration Phillip had little time to devote. As early as March 1788 he examined Broken Bay at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River, calling the southern branch Pitt River, after the prime minister. In April 1788 he made an inland excursion, but did not get far. In July 1789 he explored the Hawkesbury River to Broken Hill. In April 1791 he set out with a party to explore the Nepean River, taking natives with him, and, not being successful, he sent another party in June 1791, which produced better results. The settlement of Norfolk Island was entirely due to Phillip and his lieutenant, King. In September 1791 his confidential envoy, King, arrived from England, and brought from the home government formal approval of his policy. But Phillip's health was failing, and in November he asked permission to resign. His government was still full of difficulties. In December the convicts made a disturbance before Government house by way of protest against Phillip's regulations for the issue of provisions; Phillip repressed such disorder with a strong hand. The home government begged him to withdraw his resignation. But his state of health compelled him to return to England on 11 Dec. 1792, and final permission to resign was granted him on 23 July 1793.

Phillip's energy and self-reliance, his humanity and firmness, made a lasting impression on New South Wales. He permanently inspired the colony, despite the unpromising materials out of which it was formed, with habitual respect for law and deference to constituted authority.

On his return to England Phillip's health improved, but he lived in retirement on the pension granted ‘in consideration of his meritorious services.’ On 1 Jan. 1801 he became rear-admiral of the blue, on 23 April 1804 rear-admiral of the white, and on 9 Nov. 1805 of the red. On 25 Oct. 1809 he was made vice-admiral of the white, and on 31 July 1810 of the red. He died during November 1814 at Bath.

Phillip published an account of his ‘Voyage to Botany Bay,’ 4to, 1789, 1790; a portrait engraved after Wheatley is prefixed.



PHILLIP, JOHN (1817–1867), subject and portrait painter, the son of an old soldier, was born at 13 Skene Square, Aberdeen, on 19 April 1817. He showed a bent towards art from his earliest years; and when he became an errand-boy to a tinsmith in Hutchison Street, he used to paint rude pictures with the coarse colours used for coating the pails and cans in his master's shop. He was next apprenticed to Spark, a painter and glazier in Wallace Nook, Aberdeen, at the age of fifteen, and began to execute likenesses. He copied a picture of Wallace from a signboard in the neighbourhood, and himself painted a signboard for a basket-maker in Queen Street, a work which is mentioned as his first commission.

A friend of his father's, one David Benziel, master of the brig Manly, promised soon afterwards to take him some day to London in his vessel, but the eager youth could never induce him to name the day. At length, in 1834, he secreted himself in the Manly