Charles Gerrans Phillips joined the Navy in 1820. He served as second lieutenant in HMS Terror on the British Naval Expedition, 1839-1843 (leader James Clark Ross), sailing in company with HMS Erebus to conduct a series of magnetic observations in the southern hemisphere and to locate and reach the South Magnetic Pole. Phillips was appointed second-in-command in the schooner Felix on the British Franklin Search Expedition, 1850-1851 (leader Sir John Ross), financed by Hudson's Bay Company and by public subscription to search for Franklin's missing expedition along the shores of Barrow Strait and Melville Sound. Between May and June 1851, Phillips attempted to lead a party northward across Cornwallis Island but was forced to turn back after he had reached 75° 29 minutes North. He served as an honorary member of the British Meteorological Society. He died in 1872.
From the guide to the Charles Phillips collection, 1849-1851, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
