Fonds GB 0210 MSJOHNPHIL - John and Erasmus Philipps MSS,

Sir John Philipps, 4th baronet, was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he however left without graduating. He entered Lincoln's Inn in January 1683/4 but was not subsequently called to the Bar. In 1695 John Philipps was elected Member of Parliament for Pembroke borough, a seat he held until 1702, though he subsequently re-entered Parliament and was Member for Haverfordwest until 1722. He married Mary Smith, daughter and heiress of a wealthy East India merchant and had three sons and three daughters. From 1695 to 1737 John Philipps took a leading role in all the religious and philanthropic movements of the day, such as the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) and the East India Mission; he also corresponded with other prominent figures in the field. He founded many schools in his home county of Pembrokeshire and in Carmarthenshire. John Philipps died in 1737 and was succeeded by his son, Erasmus Philipps, 5th baronet. Erasmus Philipps was initially educated privately, then at Pembroke College, Oxford; like his father, he did not graduate but entered Lincoln's Inn in 1721. He was Member of Parliament for Haverfordwest from 1726 until his death and served as sheriff of Carmarthenshire in 1727. Erasmus Philipps died by drowning after being thrown from his horse into the River Avon. He was unmarried.