Mary Phillips, who died in London at the age of 81

A WOMAN who brought fascinating aspects of Jersey’s history to life in radio broadcasts and books, Mary Phillips, died in London on 22 September aged 81.

A contributor to BBC Jersey for over 25 years, Mary had a loyal following of listeners who enjoyed her well-researched documentaries and vibrant story-telling.

The daughter of Tom and Mary Brookes, she was born in Dolgellau in North Wales in September 1927.The youngest of three children, she excelled in English, music and history at school.

She was offered places in the first National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain as a violinist and later at the Royal College of Music as a singer, but chose to go to Aberystwyth University to read English to remain close to her parents.

After graduating, she trained as a librarian and worked in the National Library of Wales.
Mary married David Phillips in 1954 and moved to Liverpool, where he worked for Barclays Bank and she taught English at a secondary school.

After David was offered a transfer to Jersey, they moved to the Island in 1957 and had three children, Mary, Judith and Andrew. She taught music at First Tower and Grouville primary schools, and then English and history at the Jersey College for Girls.
She also trained and conducted choirs and orchestras.

On her retirement, she was able to nurture her life-long love of writing, story-telling and historical research, work which was always well supported by her husband.

She took to this new career in middle age as if it was a niche which had always been waiting for her, and her fascination for Island history strongly developed her relationship with Jersey, which she came to love so much.

Included in her many years of contributions for BBC Jersey, she worked for two years with broadcaster Murray Norton on a very popular series called On the Street Where You Live.
Every week, they focused on a different street and Mary would pour out interesting anecdotes about these areas.

She was always professional in her approach and very well researched in her subject, and Mr Norton had immense respect for her and her knowledge. Even today he still looks back on those years working with Mary as among his finest broadcasting memories.

Among her most popular series were those on Colomberie House and the Hemery family, with whom she remained in contact until her death.

The Jersey Library and the Société Jersiaise were like second homes to her and the staff welcomed her visits.

Mary Phillips, who died in London at the age of 81

She wrote books about the history of Jersey’s golf courses, cookery, walks and social history.

Her love of the Welsh mountains and language never left her, but she was totally committed to the Island and taught herself to read Jèrriais.

She continued to walk the Island’s cliff paths, beaches and by-ways whenever her health would allow and still looked for even more historical gems from its past to uncover.

Greatly missed by her family and friends, she is survived by her husband and children, to whom the Jersey Evening Post extends sympathy.