Anne Phillips

Anne Phillips (1803–1862) was a British geologist. The family moved to Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire after Anne was born in 1803. Then after four years, the youngest child of the family, Jenkin, was born in 1807.

Her father, the elder John Phillips, died in Coventry in January 1808, In September of the same year, she began aiding John in his geological work. One of John Phillips greatest contributions was naming the major geological eras (Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic) and the mass extinctions that separated them.

Scientific contributions

Her most notable geological achievement was the discovery of scattered broken pieces conglomerate, now known as Miss Phillips Conglomerate. This type of rock became popular as samples of it soon became collectable items on geological field trips.

Sir Roderick Murchison was the primary advocate of the first Malvern theory which was labelled "The Silurian system". Malvern hills contain many rocks that have Precambrian (Malvernian) igneous obtrusions that are put together by “ Sienitic” rocks. A cross-section of the Malvern Hills can be observed to contain Triassic, and Cambrian sandstones as well as marls located on the eastern side, and Cambrian and Silurian sediments located on the west side. This meant the Malvern hills had formed first. The conglomerate provided an anti-murchisonian theory (a belief that the Malvern Hills were younger than the Silurian Sediments). John gave his sister full credit for the discovery of the conglomerate. The report of the discovery was published in London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science in October 1842: "My sister, knowing the interest I felt in tracing out the history of the stratification visible in these trap hills, sought diligently for organic remains … In this most unpromising search she was entirely successful, and collected … several masses richly charged with organic remains" In the article he explains that his sister knew about how much he was interested in finding the history of the hills and how he was looking for organic remains.

Anne and John had a good relationship with William Smith and they always kept in touch. Smith acknowledged Anne’s work and referred to the contributions she made to her brother’s book. In one of his letters to Anne he thanked her for the second edition of John’s book Guide to Geology and wrote that her love for fossils encouraged him to do more searches. Miss Phillips conglomerate have become collector’s items in present day.

It is believed that Anne may have contributed to more geologic research.

Death and legacy

Over the course of her life, Anne Phillips acted mainly as John's geological companion. Much of the scientific contribution made by Anne's brother, John Smith, heavily relied on Anne’s support that she provided him in his personal and professional life. She provided both practical assistance and input on more complicated geological matters . Towards the end of 1862, Anne Phillips moved to a household that was rented by her brother, where she aided him by sorting and cataloging the fossils and minerals he collected. Her legacy remains in much of John’s work, specifically the second edition of Guide to Geology which is referred to as her “little book” due to her contributions to it.

One of Anne’s most known legacies is her work in Malvern Hills, where the rock became known as Miss. Phillips Conglomerate.

Anne died in 1862. She is buried alongside her brother, John Phillips, in the York Cemetery. The Hope Library at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History holds 234 letters sent between John Phillips and Anne Phillips.

Information currently known about Anne was taken from the letters written by her brother John, given that none of her own letters are intact.

Education Little is known about Anne's formal education. There is a strong suggestion that Anne Philips was very well educated and the education may come from her uncle and her brother. Anne Phillips was introduced to geology through her uncle and brother, starting at an early age. Anne Phillips shadowed her brother, John Phillips, and discovered an important piece of evidence that is now known as “Miss Phillips’ Conglomerate”.