George Phillpotts

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George Phillpotts
Nickname(s)Toby or Topi (Māori)[1]
Born1813 or January 1814
Durham, England
Died1 July 1845
Ōhaeawai, Northland, New Zealand
Buried
St John the Baptist Church Cemetery, Waimate North, Northland, New Zealand[2][3]
Allegiance United Kingdom
Branch Royal Navy[4]
Years of service1827–1845
RankLieutenant[4]
UnitHMS Hazard[4]
Commands heldHMS Hazard (acting)
BattlesFlagstaff War
MemorialsSt Michael's Church, Ōhaeawai, Northland (roll of honour)[7]
St James' Church, King Street, Sydney, New South Wales (memorial tablet)[8]
St Budock Parish Church, Budock Water, Cornwall (memorial stained glass window)[9]
RelationsHenry Phillpotts (father)
John Phillpotts (uncle)
William Phillpotts (brother)
Memorial to George Phillpotts in St James' Church, Sydney

Lieutenant George Phillpotts (1814 – 1 July 1845) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He was born in Durham, England in or about 1814.[10]

Career[]

George Phillpotts entered the Royal Navy on 5 September 1827,[11] advanced to mate through examination on 26 November 1833[12]: 157  and received his commission with rank of lieutenant on 12 November 1841.[4]: 72, 302  On 8 February 1842 he was appointed to the newly commissioned HM Steam Sloop Vixen, under Commander Henry Boyes, RN,[13]: 76  being manned and provisioned at Plymouth, England, for her maiden voyage to the East India station and China.

China[]

Vixen, as part of long expected reinforcements from England and India for the First Anglo-Chinese War, HMS Hazard amongst them, joined the British fleet at anchor of Chapoo, China, in May 1842,[14]: 149–150  Then whilst off Woosung following the capture of the town, Vixen was placed in company with HM Ships Cornwallis, Calliope, transport Marion with Sir Hugh Gough and staff, and seven other transports in the first of the six divisions of the General Squadron, for the cruise up the Yangtze river on 6 July to Nanking. She took Cornwallis in tow up to Kin Shan (Golden Island). In the afternoon of 15 July, Gough and Sir William Parker went on in the Vixen to reconnoitre Kin Shan and the approaches to Chinkiang at the entrance of the South Grand Canal.[14]: 154–155 [15] Vixen's officers and sailors assisted in the storming and capture of Chinkiang on 21 July 1842.[15]

West gate of Chinkiang, 21 July 1842
Artist: Thomas Allom, 1843, after a sketch by James Stoddart, RN, HMS Cornwallis

Having passed Kin Shan, Vixen came alongside the flagship HMS Cornwallis on 3 August and took her in tow up the river to anchor off the batteries at Nanking. She stood in the river with HM ships Cornwallis, Blonde, Modeste, Childers, Clio, Driver, and HEIC steamers Auckland, Queen, Pluto, Phlegathon and Medussa during the treaty negotiations that bought an end to the war.[16][17]

For their participation, Vixen's crew were eligible for the China War Medal (1842).[18]

New South Wales[]

Lieutenant Phillpotts was appointed to HMS Hazard, under Commander Charles Bell, RN,[4]: 226  on 15 December 1842, the day of her arrival at Sydney, New South Wales. After China, Hazard had left Singapore on 18 October, Anyer, Indonesia on 1 November, for refitting in Sydney into January 1843.[19] She departed Sydney, New South Wales, for Auckland, New Zealand on 4 July 1844.[20]

New Zealand[]

HMS Hazard, under the command of Acting Commander David Robertson-Macdonald[5][21][22] following Commander Bell's death in August 1844, was in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand at the start of the Flagstaff War. At dawn on Tuesday 11 March 1845, a force of about 600 Māori armed with muskets, double-barrelled guns and tomahawks commenced the Battle of Kororāreka.[23]: 11–15, 76–84 

Lieutenant Phillpotts, in command of HMS Hazard after Commander Robertson-Macdonald was severely wounded,[5] ordered the bombardment of Kororāreka.[24] In the early hours of Thursday, 13 March, the third day of fighting at of Kororāreka, HMS Hazard prepared for sea and conveyed the sick and wounded to Auckland.[24]

Phillpotts at Ōhaeawai, 1 July 1845
Artist: Arthur David McCormick, 1908

On 1 July 1845, he took part in the Battle of Ohaeawai, as naval guns were taken inland for the siege at the pā at Ohaeawai. Colonel Despard ordered an assault upon the pā, during which many soldiers died, with Phillpotts also among the casualties.[25][26] He was buried at St. John the Baptist Church.[27]

Arms of Phillpotts[]

Escutcheon—Gules a cross argent between four swords erect argent, pommels and hilts or. Crest—A dexter arm embowed in armour, holding in the hand a sword all proper.[28][9][29]

See also[]

  • "George Philpotts". Online Cenotaph. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  • Crawford, J A B (1990). "Phillpotts, George". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  • O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Phillpotts, George" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray – via Wikisource.

References[]

  1. ^ Kenny, Henry Eyre (January 1912). "Pen and Ink Sketches of Officers Commanding the Forces in New Zealand from 1845 to 1870". New Zealand Military Journal.
  2. ^ "LT George Philpotts". Find a Grave. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  3. ^ "St John the Baptist – Waimate North". Waimate North Church Parishes. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Charles Haultain, ed. (1844). The New Navy List. London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co. p. 226.
  5. ^ a b c d "Narrative of Events at the Bay of Islands". New Zealander. Vol. 1, no. 1. 7 June 1845. p. 2.
  6. ^ "Despatches from Colonel Despard, to Governor Fitzroy". The New Zealander. Vol. 1, no. 6. 12 July 1845. p. 2.
  7. ^ "St Michael's Church, Ōhaeawai". New Zealand History. Research and Publishing Group, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Lieutenant George Phillpotts". Monument Australia. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Budock, St Budock". Cornish stained glass. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  10. ^ Crawford, J A B. "George Phillpotts". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
  11. ^ O'Byrne, William R. A Naval Biographical Dictionary. London: John Murray. p. 902.
  12. ^ Charles Haultain, ed. (1840). The New Navy List. London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co.
  13. ^ Charles Haultain, ed. (1843). The New Navy List. London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co.
  14. ^ a b Low, Charles Rathbone (1877). History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863). Vol. 2. London: R. Bentley and Son.
  15. ^ a b Burke, Edmund (1844). The Annual Register of or a View of the History and Politics of the Year 1843. Vol. 85. London: F & J Rivington. p. 515.
  16. ^ Parkinson, Jonathan (2011). "Early Steam-Powered Navigation on the Lower Yangtse". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. Hong Kong: Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 51: 64.
  17. ^ "The Bristol Mercury". Bristol. 26 November 1842. p. 2.
  18. ^ "Recorded Samples of The China 1842 Medal to the Royal Navy (Vixen)". British Medal Rolls. Orders and Medals Society of America. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". The Australian. Vol. 9, no. 1203. New South Wales, Australia. 16 December 1842. p. 2. Retrieved 1 April 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "Departures". The Sydney Morning Herald. Vol. 18, no. 2228. New South Wales, Australia. 5 July 1844. p. 2. Retrieved 7 November 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ "Papers of Admiral David Robertson-Macdonald". Richard M Ford Ltd. 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Admiral David Robertson-Macdonald". Auckland Libraries Heritage Images Collection. 2021. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  23. ^ Carleton, Hugh (1877). The Life of Henry Williams: Archdeacon of Waimate. Vol. 2. Auckland: Wilson & Horton – via Early New Zealand Books (ENZB), University of Auckland Library.
  24. ^ a b "The Sacking of Kororareka". Ministry for Culture and Heritage – NZ History online. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  25. ^ "New Zealand: Has the Work Died Out?". The Church Missionary Gleaner. 20: 115. 1870. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  26. ^ Binney, Judith. "Penetana Papahurihia". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  27. ^ Bedggood, W.E. (1971). Brief History of St John Baptist Church Te Waimate. News, Kaikohe.
  28. ^ Burke, Bernard (1884). The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. London: Harrison & Sons. p. 800.
  29. ^ "Truro, Bishop Phillpotts' Library". Cornish stained glass. Retrieved 28 March 2021.


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