Alfred Henry Phillips

2x Great-Grandparents · PHI-002

Biographical Information

Alfred Henry Phillips was born in late 1888 at Barton Regis (Bristol), son of the shoemaker's son Samuel Augustus Phillips and Florence Eliza Cogan, and married Edith Maud Kate Jolliffe at Bristol in 1911 Confirmed. The couple raised at least six children in Bristol - Edith, Elsie, Leslie, Raymond, Vera and Maureen Confirmed. In 1911, aged 22 and still single, he worked as an electrician on the Bristol tramways and lived in his widowed grandfather John Phillips's household at St Philip & Jacob Confirmed.

Confidence of each fact: Confirmed primary record · Probable strong but unproven · Inherited family knowledge · Conflict sources disagree · Hypothesis working theory

Full Name & Name Variations

Alfred Henry Phillips
Alfred Henry Phillips - full name confirmed, GRO birth index (Dec q. 1888, Barton Regis)Inherited
Alfred H. Phillips - GRO marriage index, Apr-Jun 1911 (the 'H' = Henry)Inherited
Alfred Phillips - form on the family chart (middle name not recorded)Inherited
_Provenance:_ FULL NAME CONFIRMED as ALFRED HENRY PHILLIPS. The GRO birth index (Dec q. 1888, Barton Regis) records his mother's maiden name as COGAN and spells the middle name HENRY - so the 'H.' of the 1911 marriage index is HENRY. The family chart had only 'Alfred'.

Birth & Death

Born: Oct-Dec quarter 1888, Barton Regis (Bristol area) [CONFIRMED - GRO birth index]
Place: Barton Regis registration district, Bristol, England

Places of Residence

Bristol, England

Occupation(s)

Electrician — Bristol tramways [CONFIRMED — 1911 census, aged 22]

Education

Not yet researched.

Family

Spouse: Edith Jolliffe

Children:

Vera Clarice Phillips (b. July 18, 1922 – d. 10 May 2009)
Edith R. D. Phillips (b. 1911, Bristol (GRO 6a/305))
Elsie M. Phillips (b. 1914, Bristol (GRO 6a/50) · m. Christopher Mortimer)
Leslie A. Phillips (b. 1915, Bristol (GRO 6a/250) · m. Vera (4 children))
Raymond F. Phillips (b. 1920, Bristol (GRO 6a/455) · never married)
Maureen Audrey Phillips (b. 1928, Bristol (GRO 6a/73) · m. Gordon Wagner (m. Jun 1953, Bristol, GRO 7b/192))

Siblings:

Harold Edmund Phillips (b. 1895, Barton Regis)
Doris Vera Phillips (b. 1898, Barton Regis · m. Ambrose Allen)
Amy Florence Phillips (b. 1902, Barton Regis)

Parents:

Father: Samuel Augustus Phillips
Mother: Florence Eliza Cogan

Information Gathered (7 entries)

CONFIRMED - GRO marriage index image (Basile-supplied scan), Marriages registered Apr-May-Jun 1911, page 30: PHILLIPS, ALFRED H. - District BRISTOL, Volume 6a, Page 143.Confirmed
CROSS-CONFIRMED: the bride's index entry on the Jolliffe page carries the IDENTICAL reference - JOLLIFFE, EDITH M.K. - Bristol, 6a, 143. Same district/volume/page = they married each other, Bristol registration district, Q2 1911.Inherited
The marriage CERTIFICATE is now orderable from GRO by this reference (Bristol, 1911, 6a/143). It would name Alfred's father (route to confirming Samuel Phillips, PHI-003) and Edith's father Samuel Joliffe, with both men's occupations.Inherited
CONFIRMED via GRO online birth index (23 Jul 2026): PHILLIPS, ALFRED HENRY - mother's maiden surname COGAN - GRO ref Dec quarter 1888, BARTON REGIS, Vol 06A Page 150. Only one such record in England 1885-1889. This confirms (a) his mother was a COGAN - validating the family chart, (b) his middle name is HENRY, (c) his true birth is late 1888 (not the chart's 1887), registered in BARTON REGIS - the Bristol-area district that made every plain 'Bristol' search fail.Confirmed
CORRECTION: birthplace/district refined from 'Bristol' to BARTON REGIS; birth year from 1887 to 1888.Confirmed
His parents are now DOCUMENTED: the FreeBMD marriage index shows SAMUEL AUGUSTUS PHILLIPS x FLORENCE ELIZA COGAN marrying in Barton Regis, Dec q. 1888 (6a/191) - the same district and quarter as Alfred's own birth registration, which is why he was indexed under his mother's maiden name Cogan.Inherited
1911 CENSUS (Session 69) — occupation & three-generation household. Alfred H Phillips, 22, single, ELECTRICIAN, industry TRAMWAYS, is a grandson in the St Philip & Jacob household headed by his widowed grandfather John Phillips (77, b.~1834, "retired shoemaker"); also present his father Samuel A Phillips (44), mother Florence E (43), and siblings Harold (16), Doris (12) and Amy (8). Confirms the John → Samuel Augustus → Alfred line and gives Alfred's trade.Confirmed

Sources & Documents (4 sources)

GRO marriage index — Alfred H. Phillips & Edith M.K. Jolliffe, 1911 ↗General Register Office, England & Wales marriage index, Apr-Jun quarter 1911: PHILLIPS, ALFRED H. — BRISTOL, Vol 6a, Page 143; and JOLLIFFE, EDITH M.K. — BRISTOL, Vol 6a, Page 143. Identical reference = married each other. (GRO (index reference; scans held locally))

GRO birth index — Vera Clarice Phillips, 1922 ↗General Register Office, England & Wales birth index: PHILLIPS, VERA CLARICE, Sept quarter 1922, BRISTOL district, Volume 06A, Page 305. Mother's maiden surname: JOLLIFFE. (GRO (index reference))

1911 England Census — John Phillips household, St Philip & Jacob, Bristol ↗RG14, piece 35, ED 26. Head John Phillips (77, retired shoemaker); son Samuel A Phillips (44); Florence E (43); grandson Alfred H Phillips (22, electrician/tramways); Harold (16), Doris (12), Amy (8).FamilySearch / Findmypast

Family knowledge — supplied by BasileOral/handed-down family information supplied by P.J.B., July 2026, and the original family chart (Family Tree.rtf / FamilyTree.html).Family