Primitive Methodist local preacher and socialist politician, born at Talke o' th' Hill, Staffs and educated at a PM school. At 7 he joined his father in the brickyards, then from the age of 10 worked at Talke colliery. In 1881 he was elected weighman at Jamayne Colliery. From 1888 to 1912 he was President of the North Staffordshire Miners Federation, then as its secretary and agent, serving also on the Stoke-on-Trent Council. In 1916 he was elected as MP for North West Staffordshire, and on the abolition of that constituency in 1918, for Burslem, but did not stand again at the 1922 election. As an MP he opposed gambling and advocated temperance. He died on 14 April 1935.

One of his grandsons, David Chiltern Phillips (1924-1999) was Professor of Molecular Science at Oxford 1968-1985; knighted in 1979, he ws elevated to the peerage as Baron Phillips of Ellesmere in 1994. Another grandson, Stephen R.L. Clark (born 1945) was appointed Professor of Philosophy at Liverpool University in 1984.

Entry written by: DCD
Category: Person
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