Constituency Dates
Pembroke Boroughs 1695 – 1702
Haverfordwest 4 Mar. 1718 – 1722
Family and Education
b. c. 1666, 1st surv. s. of Sir Erasmus Philipps, 3rd Bt., M.P. Pembroke 1654, by Catherine, da. and coh. of Hon. Edward Darcy by Elizabeth, da. of Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield; uncle by marriage to Sir Robert Walpole. educ. Westminster 1679; Trinity, Camb. 1682; L. Inn 1684. m. 12 Dec. 1697, Mary, da. and h. of Anthony Smith, E.I. merchant, 3s. 4da. suc. fa. 18 Jan. 1697.
Address
Main residence: Picton Castle, Pemb.
biography text

Philipps, who owned large estates in Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire, was returned for Haverfordwest on his family’s interest in 1718, voting with the Administration. Poor eyesight caused him to retire from Parliament in 1722, when he wrote to his wife, 4 Jan.,

it is become painful to me to sit in the House of Commons where, for want of reading the bills and other matters that are laid before them, I am by no means master of their business and often times at a loss to know which way to give my vote.1NLW, Picton Castle mss.

An active member of the societies for the propagation of the Gospel in foreign parts and for promoting Christian knowledge, he was also a patron of George Whitfield and a friend of John Wesley.2T. Shankland, ‘Sir John Philipps’, Trans. Cymmrod. Soc. 1804-5, pp. 74-79. In 1730 he took up the cause of the persecuted Protestants in Poland, collecting several hundred pounds for their relief among his acquaintances, including £50 from Walpole.3HMC Hastings, iii. 5. He died 5 Jan. 1737, aged 70, leaving in his will a legacy for the relief of the Salzburgers and other persecuted Protestants.4HMC Egmont Diary, ii. 376.

Author
P.D.G.T.
Volume
Commons 1715-1754
Notes
  • 1. NLW, Picton Castle mss.
  • 2. T. Shankland, ‘Sir John Philipps’, Trans. Cymmrod. Soc. 1804-5, pp. 74-79.
  • 3. HMC Hastings, iii. 5.
  • 4. HMC Egmont Diary, ii. 376.