[1] Phillips had his initial education in the United Kingdom and qualified for the Indian civil service in 1829.
In 1841 Phillips was appointed a senior merchant of the East India Company.
[3] He later served as a puisne judge of the Madras High Court,[4] and resigned at the end of 1864.
[5] In 1868 he found himself in a minority of one on the Council, on a question relating to the judicial independence of Travancore.
[12][13] Charlotte Caroline Phillips, of the Maples, Hampton Wick, died a widow on 19 April 1892.