The Canfield/Phillips collection details the experiences of Emily Canfield-Phillips and her family. Though Emily was the daughter of a prominent Morris County family she spent most of her adult life in Barbados as the wife of a British politician. Emily Phillips, born in 1874, was the daughter of Hoseph Lovell Canfield (1835-1894) and Eliza H. Ford Canfield (n.d.), the daughter of Henry Ford. Emily met her husband, William Lambert Collyer Phillips (1874-1924) when he was in Morris Plains visiting Emily's sister and brother-in-law, Louisa Canfield Ferris and Oscar Coles Ferris. They were married on October 1, 1897 in St. Peter's Church in Morristown and moved to Barbados where Lambert was the Treasurer of the Island. The couple had two children, a daughter Emily, referred to as Emsie and a son named Hobart. Their time in Barbados was spent among the social elite including naval officers and British Consulars. The early part of the twentieth century was a turbulent and violent period for the British Empire and Lambert by all evidence performed his job exceptionally well. He was nominated and appointed an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an order of chivalry, given to those of high accomplishment in the service of the Empire, in 1918. He also had additional obligations throughout his career. During the First World War he served as the chairman of the recruiting committee. It was his responsibility to provide personnel for the British war effort.
Upon Lambert's death in 1924 Emily returned to Morris Plains to visit her sister. For a short time, she attempted to regain her American citizenship which she lost due to her residence in Barbados as the wife of a non citizen. These attempts seem to have been fruitless and she returned to live in Barbados.
The Canfield/Phillips papers represent a collection of letters and documents belonging to a family who lived and socialized among the elite of Barbadian citizenry. The collection spans the years 1890-1952 and has been organized into ten series. Each family member composes a single series and an additional series for Lambert containing his records as the island's Treasurer and one more for Emsie and her husband Utley. There are three other series that detail aspects of Barbadian government, life in a British colony and one final series composed of photographs. The material dating from 1900 to 1924, contains primarily correspondence and documents pertaining to the family of William Lambert Collyer Phillips and his wife Emily Canfield Phillips. Following Lambert's death in 1924, the majority of the papers concern their daughter Emily (Emsie) and her husband Temple Utley. This series contains material related primarily to Utley's boat, the Imalya; and Emily's correspondence from her sister-in-law, Freda Utley, and correspondence about her publishing efforts regarding Temple's book. The papers, photographs and letters offer a view of the life of a family who spent most of its time in the social milieu of the civil service on the Island of Barbados. There are references to visits from the British royalty, as well as naval ship officers. In addition there are records of charitable organizations and organizations devoted to the war effort.
Collections related to these papers are the Colles Family papers and the Wise Family papers.
This series is composed almost entirely of correspondence written to or by Lambert from friends and family. In addition there are a few references to Lambert's accomplishments, as mentioned above he was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, some poetry composed by Lambert, and some records concerning a horse racing venture organized by Lambert. The series has been arranged chronologically.
Lambert spent over two decades of service to that Barbadian government and this series provides a small glimpse into his role in the island's bureaucracy. Included in this series are awards and citations presented to Lambert for his role as the Treasurer, professional correspondence about matters both mundane and important, several reports concerning pressing issues and several records concerning a meeting in 1920 the Ottawa Conference an important inter-colonial trade conference. There are also several newspaper articles concerning government policies. This series has been arranged chronologically.
This series contains correspondence personal from family and friends and to and letters to various governments' agencies concerning her regaining her U.S. citizenship after the death of her husband. There are also report cards from her elementary school and several file folders containing correspondence between her and the Girl's Friendly Society a non-profit organization for young girls associated with the Episcopal Church that Emily was allied with over several decades. There are also some financial records and correspondence concerning Emily's philanthropy in the series. This series has been arranged chronologically.
This series consists of correspondence with family and friends and some academic records created by or for Emsie to include report cards from elementary school and reports on international relations, an article written for "Geography and Man". An interesting item is correspondence written by Morgan Young, a civil servant posted in pre-World War II Japan. The letters describe Japanese political and social realities in the pre war years. Emsie also took an active interest in her local government and this is reflected in several letters to the editor penned by her. There are copies of the both Daily Record and the Barbados Advocate.
Emsie and Temple were married only a few short years before he died in 1935 and most of the records in this series are byproducts of Temple's boat the Imlaya and his travels across the South Pacific. There is correspondence between the two of them, notes from their wedding, Temple's obituary, letters of sympathy to Emsie on her husband's death, records concerning the sale of the Imyala, correspondence between Emsie and publishers concerning the publication of Temple's book "Modern Sea Beggar", and several newspaper articles concerning the theft of the boat "Seafarer" have to find out why this is important.
The majority of this series is composed of correspondence as well as material concerning Hobart's education. However a great deal of information concerning his schooling can be found in correspondence to Hobart's father, Lambert. During World War One Hobart was sent away to train for admission into one of the British service academies and letters concerning this training can be found in series I. There are some letters from Hobart's later years however this series is the most sparse of the family members.
This series contains material that provides a glimpse of life of the colonials including dinner and party menus, party guest lists, material from the funeral mass celebrated in honor of Edward VII and the coronation of George V, pamphlets concerning hurricanes, wire dispatches sent from London to colonial territories. An interesting note one is dated July 31, 1914 on the eve of World War I and it details the mobilization of Europe's armies. There are several short stories written by a servant describing daily life. The most interesting item in the series is a cloth newspaper of the "Agriculture Reporter" dated 1905 printed in celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the newspaper. This series was arranged chronologically.
As a British colony Barbados had obligations to England during the war. As noted above Lambert acted as the chairman of the recruiting committee. This series includes material related to the war effort and life on Barbados during the war. The Barbadians contributed to the Belgian Relief Society and raised war funds through various methods including a living bridge game in which individuals were dressed as playing cards. There was an active British Red Cross Society that contributed to the war effort as well.
This series contains material of family members and friends that were peripheral to the Phillips to include Lambert's ancestor John Randall Phillips and Emsie's sister-in-law Freda. These file folders contain correspondence. There is also a file folder for the notes and ephemera from the speeches of Father Huntington, friend of Emily. This series is arranged chronologically.
The majority of the pictures are of the family members and their residence. There is one file folder of miscellaneous pictures and one of a family friend. The series is arranged chronologically.
Restrictions: Access with permission of the Archivist of Head of Local History. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the Local History and Genealogy Department researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Material in the Canfield/Phillips collection may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the Local History Department's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material.
The Canfield/Phillips Family Collection was donated to the Local History and Genealogy Department by Gertrude Colles.
The Canfield/Phillips Collection. Local History and Genealogy Department, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.
Arranged by Mary Ann Gray, Spring 1989. Revised by Lawrence Greene