Samuel Phillips

Born in London in 1814, Samuel Phillips was the son of a Jewish tradesman and studied at University College London, at Göttingen, and briefly at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Family hardship cut short his plans for the church, and by 1841 he was earning his living with his pen.

Phillips wrote fiction as well as journalism. His best-known novel, Caleb Stukely, first appeared in the 1840s, and he went on to contribute to major newspapers including the Morning Herald and The Times, where he became known for literary reviews. He also bought and edited John Bull for a period, showing how fully he was involved in the fast-moving press culture of Victorian Britain.

Beyond newspapers and books, he took an active part in the Crystal Palace Company and wrote descriptive guides connected with it. Göttingen awarded him an honorary LL.D. in 1852, and he died at Brighton in 1854, still only in his thirties. No suitable verified portrait image was found from the sources checked, so a profile image is not included here.