George Phillips (c. 1593 – July 1, 1644) was an English-born Puritan minister who led, along with Richard Saltonstall, a group of English settlers up the Charles River to settle in what is now Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1630.

His descendants number in the thousands and are well represented in American history in the clergy, local and national politics, business, and social justice arenas.

[1] By 1630 Phillips was the village vicar of Boxted, Essex and was increasingly dissatisfied, as were many Puritans, with the continuance of Roman Catholic ritual and insufficient Calvinist influences on the Church of England.

It is claimed that Phillips was the author of the Watertown Covenant signed by the founders of the town, which not only served as an organizing document but also as a declaration of a bill of rights whose authority comes from "God":[3][4] "We ... have undertaken (for the promoting of His glory, and the Church's good, and the honour of our blessed Jesus...) a long and hazardous voyage from… Old England in Europe, to New England in America; that we may walk before Him, and serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, all the days of our lives ... and enter into a sure covenant with the Lord our God, and before Him, with one another, by oath... to renounce all idolatry and superstition, will-worship, all human traditions and inventions whatsoever in the worship of God; and forsaking all evil ways, do give ourselves wholly unto the Lord Jesus, to do Him faithful service, observing and keeping all His statutes, commands, and ordinances, in all matters concerning our reformation, His worship, administrations, ministry, and government, and in the carriage for ourselves among ourselves and one towards another, as He hath prescribed in His holy Word.Further swearing to cleave unto that [the Word of God] alone, and the true sense and meaning thereof to the utmost of our power, as unto the most clear light, and infallible rule, and all-sufficient canon in all things that concern us in this our way.While Phillips was a Puritan, he expressed a greater tolerance and acceptance for differing Protestant thought.

Phillips drafted signed and filed with the State House a petition to pardon a man who had been fined for possessing a Baptist tract.

[6] Arguably Phillips, in deviating from the strictness of Winthrop on the other side of the Charles in Boston, helped to lay the groundwork for the more inclusive spirit of today's Congregational churches.

[13] Phillips is specifically mentioned in a 1948 marker at the edge of the Charles River which honors him and Saltonstall at what is called Sir Richard's Landing.

The text on the monument is as follows: Here Reverend George Phillips protest in 1632 against taxation without representation struck the first note of civil liberty heard in this wilderness.