George Phillips

George Phillips (1843 – 2 June 1921) was a surveyor, and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly in Australia.

Early days Phillips was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, England, on October 12, 1843, to parents George Phillips, and his wife Emily Irwin (née Onge). In 1886 he resigned from Queensland Rail and established his own practice.

In 1895 he inspected the planned Cairns to Mulgrave tramway. In 1896 he was appointed Inspector of Artesian Bores. During 1902 and 1903 he supervised construction of the Beaudesert Tramway. In 1904 he became a member of the Brisbane Board of Waterworks and 1905 President of the Queensland Institute of Surveyors. In 1909 he returned to the Gulf Country at the Government’s request to report on railways and ports. During 1910 and 1911 he surveyed and engineered the Belmont Tramway. During 1911 to 1913 he supervised construction of the Aramac Tramway. In 1914 he was engineer for the Palmwoods - Buderim Tramway. In later years he advocated using sources of water on Stradbroke Island for Brisbane supply, writing a book on flood mitigation in the Brisbane River. These are some of his accomplishments there are numerous others, including laying out Toowong Cemetery. He was described as “a man of great ability, and of high professional reputation, but always ready for a chat or a joke and never failing when information was required".

Political career Phillips served in the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the seat of Carpentaria from 1893 until 1896. They had nine sons and six daughters.

He died on 2 June 1921 in Brisbane. His funeral proceeded from the Brisbane Baptist City Tabernacle to the Toowong Cemetery.

His wife Elizabeth died 13 April 1943. Her funeral was held at the Brisbane Baptist City Tabernacle and she was buried with her husband in a family grave at Toowong Cemetery.

Legacy The Norman to Croydon railway line was heritage-listed in 1992 and is still in use today by the Gulflander tourist train.