Phillis Emily Cunnington

Phillis Emily Cunnington (1 November 1887 – 24 October 1974) was an English medical doctor and collector, writer and historian on costume and fashion.

Her youngest brother was Captain Noel William Ward Webb MC & Bar (1896–1917), a British World War I flying ace credited with fourteen aerial victories.

For a period she was Clinical Assistant in the Eye Department of the Royal Northern Hospital, later being the Medical Officer in charge of the Infant Welfare Centre in Finchley in northwest London.

[3][4] In 1918, Phillis Webb married Cecil Willett Cunnington who was also a qualified doctor and who had served as a Captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps during World War I.

[6][7] In 1945, Lawrence Haward, the Curator of the Manchester City Art Gallery, launched a campaign to raise funds for the purchase of the Cunnigtons' extensive collection.

In 1947 the Cunningtons' collection was purchased and formed the nucleus of the Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall