Thomas Benbow Phillips (14 February 1828 - 30 January 1915) was a pioneer of the Welsh settlements in Brazil and, more successfully, Patagonia during the 19th century.
Phillips was baptised 12 Sept 1830 at St. Saviour's church, Southwark, Surrey, the son of Thomas Phillips, a labourer, and Susan his wife, but is said to have been born in either Manchester or Tregaron, where he grew up.
Phillips travelled to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil to begin making arrangements, and by the end of May 1851 had been joined by six groups of Welsh immigrants.
[1] Phillips married a Brazilian woman, María Januaria Buena Florinal, but after her death in 1872 moved to the larger Welsh colony of Y Wladfa, in Patagonia.
However, the government in London refused to entertain demands that it should assert sovereignty over the settlement.