Mr. Fred. Phillips, Mayor of Newport 1906-7
Photo reference number: 1664
Newport's Mayor, 1906-7
Mr. Fred. Phillips, upon whom the choice of Mayor for 1906-7 fell unanimously, is the fourth son of the late Mr. Thomas Phillips and Mrs. Elizabeth Phillips, was born at Stoney-Stratford in 1857. In his infancy Mr. Phillips was taken to Northampton, where his father had acquired an interest in the firm of Phillips Brothers, brewers, a firm still in existence as the Northampton Brewery Company. When a dissolution of partnership took place some fifteen years later the late Mr. Phillips purchased the Dock-road Brewery, Newport, from the late Alderman Thos. Floyde Lewis, who was Mayor of the town in 1865. It was about 1874 that Mr. Fred. Phillips returned from Clewer House School, Windsor, where he had completed his education. In 1875 he became a pupil at the engineering works of the old Monmouthshire Railway and Canal Company (which was absorbed soon after by the Great Western Railway Company) at Newport, under the management of the late Mr. Appleby, and completed his articles at Swindon. When the Dock-road Brewery was rebuilt the now Mayor made himself responsible for the engineering work, and again some few years ago when there were extensive alterations he successfully carried through the work placed in his hands. With his brother, Mr. Edward Phillips, he has for years shared the management of the whole concern. First returned to the Council in 1892 he has served on every Committee of the Corporation, and is at present Deputy-Chairman of the Electricity and Tramways Committee. Like the whole of his family the Mayor is a sportsman of the first water. As an athlete he was a champion at flat and hurdle racing, a football player for the Newport Club in its earliest days, a cyclist, and a cricketer. In the latter capacity he captained the Newport team for years, while he was mainly responsible for the formation of the Monmouthshire County Cricket Club, an organisation he was both secretary and captain of. The Mayor is a Churchman and Conservative. His brother, Mr. W. Clifford Phillips, was Mayor of the town in 1903-4.
