• Name: Phillips,
• Gender: Male
• Birth Date:
• Death Date:

It is possible that Godwin meets the portrait painter Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) in around 1795, and had quite frequent contact with him, often associated with Chandler, until the end of the decade. It is also possible that he continues to see him later in the 1800s. However, the attribution would be based largely on the proximity to J. W. Chandler, the potrait painter, and there is a letter referring to Chandler and his relationship to Godwin written by a J. Phillips, from London in 1801. This suggests that the Phillips associated with Chandler may, in fact, be this man, about whom we have no other clues. It is possible that it is John Phillips, (fl. 1778–c.1817), who wrote on inland navigation, but there is nothing to back this up. What does seem clear is that there is a single Phillips, to whom Godwin is reasonably close in the 1790s, but who might not be present thereafter.

In 1796 the Philips in London have been coded as Philips, but not the entries for Philip connected to Norwich (uncoded). In 1797, the Philips in Warwickshire has not beeen coded; those in London look plausible for a man connected with the arts (although Johnson's suggests publishing circles it seems possible that the link is through Fuseli). In 1798 and 1799, the Philips entries are in London, many associated with Chandler. In 1799, there is a similar pattern.

In 1800, there are contacts through Lanesborough and King, and then a seven month hiatus, followed by 'Meet R Philips' when Curran is staying overnight, and with no subsequent entries that year. It would be surprising but not unheard of for Godwin to use an initial if he had been seeing the person regularly in the previous years - and we might take this as confirmation that he has not been in regular contact with Richard Philips and that the entries from the previous decade are references to another Philips. Thereafter it seems more likely that he is using Phillips/Philips to refer to Richard Phillips, the publisher.

• S. Abinger c. 6, fols. 132-3: 24 Jan. 1801 see note from John Phillips 24.1.1801
• DNB

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.