Captain Arthur Phillip landed in Australia in January 1788 at a site he named as Sydney in honour of Lord Sydney, and he was officially appointed Governor-in-Chief of New South Wales on 7 February 1788.

 

When he retired he lived in Bathampton and Bath where he died in 1814. 

 

It was not until the year 1897 that any real interest in his achievement started, and the discovery of his grave in the church led to a more worthy memorial.

 

In 1974 the Australia Chapel was constructed with donations from the Federal and State Governments of Australia, organisations and individuals.

 

The floor is of Australian Wombeyan Marble and the memorial screen made of Australian Blackbean wood. The windows of the sanctuary carry the coat of arms of the Federal Government and the six Australian States.  The Kneelers were given by Tasmania. 

 

In recent years, the High Commissioner for Australia performs an annual wreath laying ceremony near to 11 October, the date of Arthur Phillip’s birth

The PHILLIP MEMORIAL in the South Aisle was constructed in 1974, and what had been the Allen Chapel was restored and rededicated as the AUSTRALIA CHAPEL through the efforts and generosity of many companies and individuals.  The floor is covered with specially cut Wombeyian marble.  The Memorial Screen beside Phillip’ grave is made of Australian blackbean wood, as is all the joinery work in the Chapel, and the pulpit and choirstalls in the Nave.  The two windows in the east end of the South Aisle carry the coats-of-arms of the Federal Government and the six Australian states (we are the only English Parish Church with stained glass kangaroos!).  The chairs in the Chapel are handmade, and labelled with their individual donors.  The kneelers in the Chapel sanctuary were made by supporters in Launceston, Tasmania.

ARTHUR PHILLIP (1738-1814) entered the Navy in 1755.  He was chosen to lead the First Fleet to Australia from Portsmouth in May 1787, which consisted of two warships and nine transport vessels, 1,450 people in all.  He landed at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, but soon selected a site further north for the first settlement, which he named Sydney (after Lord Sydney, the then British Home Secretary).  Phillip served as the first Governor of New South Wales for four very difficult years as the Colony became established.  He returned to England in 1793 in poor health, and came to Bath ‘to take the cure’.  After further naval service he retired to Bath (19 Bennett Street), where he died in 1814 and is buried with his wife (the term ‘Relict’ on the gravestone means widow!).  He often visited friends in Bathampton, staying sometimes at Osborne House on Bathampton Lane.

 

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