George Godfrey Phillips

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(7 June 1900 – 24 October 1965), was a British barrister and, later, solicitor, who served as the Commissioner General of the

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

Municipal Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

from 1939 to 1942. He was also co-author with E. C. S. Wade of a leading text on constitutional law.

Early life

Phillips was born 7 June 1900 in the United Kingdom, the son of Dr George Charles Phillips of Grantley,

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...

, Gloucestershire and Ethel Nancy Phillips. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

where he took first class honours in Law

Tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

. He was also president of the

Cambridge Union The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debatin ...

. He was called to the bar in 1925 and practiced as a barrister until 1932 when he became town clerk of

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in ...

Publication

In 1931, Phillips was co-author with E. C. S. Wade of Constitutional Law, commonly known as 'Wade and Phillips'.

Marriage

Phillips married Betty Mary Bright eldest daughter of Mr and Mrs Trevor Bright, of Henleaze-gardens,

Westbury-on-Trym Westbury on Trym is a suburb and council ward in the north of the City of Bristol, near the suburbs of Stoke Bishop, Westbury Park, Henleaze, Southmead and Henbury, in the southwest of England. With a village atmosphere, the place is partl ...

, Bristol in May 1932. They had two sons and a daughter.

Shanghai Municipal Council

Phillips moved to Shanghai in 1934 to take up the position of Secretary to the

Shanghai Municipal Council The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...

under Secretary General, Stirling Fessenden. On Fessenden's retirement in 1939, he was appointed Secretary and Commissioner General. In January 1940, Phillips was the subject of an assassination attempt when 3 Chinese men riddled his car with bullets while he was being driven to work. At the beginning of the Pacific War, on December 8, 1941, Japanese troops occupied the International Settlement. Phillips tendered his resignation to take effect on 1 March 1942. He was granted a maximum pension. Mr Kohei Teraoka (a Japanese consular official who had been appointed deputy secretary in 1941) was appointed Secretary of the Council and Mr

Katsuo Okazaki was a Japanese sportsman, diplomat and political figure. He served as the Japanese foreign minister in the 1950s. He was also the final – and only Japanese – chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Council. Early life Okazaki was born on 10 ...

, the chairman to the council, took over the role of Commissioner General in an honorary capacity. Phillips was repatriated to England in mid-1942. In 1943 the was made a

Commander of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his service in Shanghai.

Career in England

He worked in the

War Cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senio ...

Office from 1943 before returning to practice at the bar. In 1946 he re-qualified as a solicitor and became of a partner of the firm Linklater and Paines. He later became managing director of

Lazard Lazard Ltd (formerly known as Lazard Frères & Co.) is a financial advisory and asset management firm that engages in investment banking, asset management and other financial services, primarily with institutional clients. It is the world's lar ...

a director of

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

, chairman of the Equity and Law Life Assurance Society and was a member of the board of a number of industrial companies. He was also a governor of the

Death

Phillips died on 24 October 1965 after a long illness that he had borne with fortitude.Obituary, The Times, 25 October 1965