The son of John Phillips, surgeon, of Pall Mall and Great Burton, Suffolk, was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the Grenadier Guards on June 16th, 1808. He was with his regiment in the Walcheren Expedition, in Spain at the Battle of Barosa, for which he received the Medal, and at the Battle of Corunna, for which he was mentioned in dispatches. He returned with the wounded, and on arrival at Spithead, transports signalled that they were without medical care. Phillips, at great personal risk owing to the high sea, induced boatmen to take him abroad. He retired from the Army before July 18th, 1811, and was appointed Surgeon to the Marylebone Infirmary. In later days he was appointed Surgeon Extraordinary to William IV, and, his father dying in 1840, Queen Victoria appointed him to succeed as Surgeon to Her Majesty’s Household. He died long after his retirement at 6 Trafalgar Square, Chelsea, London, SW, on Aug 8th, 1863.