Phillips family collection

The Phillips Family are an old Australian Jewish family that resided in New South Wales from the 1850s.

Barnett Phillips was born in 1833 in England. A devout Jew, he attended the Jewish Free School in Spittalfields, London from 1838 to 1843. He later immigrated to New South Wales, Australia. In 1858 he married Caroline Cohen in Young, New South Wales. Caroline, also born in England, had immigrated to Goulburn along with her sister Dinah Cohen.

Barnett earned his livelihood in several ways over the course of his life. He spent time as a theatrical producer, builder, and furniture merchant. Newspaper clippings from publications of the Burrangong Courier in 1862 record Barnett as the sole proprietor of the Diggers’ Theatre in Burrangong. The collection also holds a licence granted on the 3rd of June 1867 allowing Barnett to give ‘Public Exhibitions and Entertainments’ within the colony of New South Wales, except for within the city of Sydney.

From 1868 Barnett and Caroline were living in Sydney, within the Surry Hills and Paddington area. By 1909 they had moved to Paddington where they lived for the rest of their lives.

Between 1860 and 1881 Barnett and Caroline had ten children: Ann (who died before her second birthday); Moses (George) Barnett; Elizabeth (Lilly); Rosetta (Rose); Zelig “Phillip”; Deborah; Clara Eve; Sarah Ann; Joel Lewis; Esther (Etty). Of all the children, George was the only one to marry, marrying Sarah Jane Dowling in 1887. He was subsequently disowned by his parents for having married outside of the faith.