Helen Plummer Phillips (1850–1929) educator, missionary, philanthropist, was the first missionary sent from Australia by the newly formed Church Missionary Association NSW (now CMS Australia) in 1892. She was the first tutor for women students at the University of Sydney and formed the University of Sydney Women's Society in 1891 and established its settlement work, mentoring the women students until the Women's College was built and the first principal arrived. Phillips was a principal of St. Catherine's School, Waverley NSW, an advocate for women's full education, and a benefactor of St Luke's Anglican Community Church, Medlow Bath, NSW.
Life and ministry
Early life
Helen Phillips was born on 19 November 1850 to a relatively well-off family in Shaugh Prior, Devon, England and grew up in Lee Moor House. She was baptised in the Plymouth circuit Ebenezer Wesleyan Methodist chapel in 1850 by James Mowat. Her father was William Phillips and mother Mary Ann Phillips (née James). Her father owned the Lee Moor Porcelain Clay Company, and the rights to use the Morley Clay works in partnership with his son, John (Helen's older brother). William died in 1861 when Helen was ten years old, and the occupation of both her mother Mary and older brother John was listed on the census of that year as "China Clay Merchant and Brick Manufacturer employing 89 men". John Phillips had to sell the company and mining leases after his father's death but went on to establish Aller Vale pottery.
Phillips graduated from Bedford College, London and became a teacher, a senior assistant mistress at Sheffield Girls' High, England. Her younger brother Richard Henry Phillips emigrated to Australia in 1884 and became Rector of the Anglican parish of Taree NSW then Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle. Helen was invited to be headmistress of St. Catherine's School, Waverley by Bishop Alfred Barry, third bishop of Sydney so she also sailed to Australia later in 1884.
Educator
St. Catherine’s School, Waverley
From September 1884 to 1890, she was the principal of St. Catherine's School, Waverley. The school was initially for the daughters of clergy but expanded to accept other girls as pupils. A later archivist of the school described Phillips as: "Affectionately known as ‘Phill’, she was an inspiring headmistress who was well ahead of her time."
She was known as a strong supporter of education for women, a progressive headmistress, and expanded the curriculum, encouraging the students to undertake public service and university entrance examinations. In 1884 she donated an art studio, "The Studio", to the school so that future artist Eirene Mort made good use of it when she attended St Catherine's from 1889 to 1897. The studio is now the school's museum. Later in 1914 Phillips asked Mort to illustrate her memoir. She introduced the school's motto In Christo Thesauri Sapientiae at ScientiaI, "In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge". She fostered her students' interest in the arts bringing in music (Phillips played the pianoforte), drawing and language teachers as well as science teachers such as Fanny Hunt, the first woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney in 1888. In 1890, Phillips wrote to a newspaper asking for an afternoon recital of the Halle-Neruda concert rather than the crowded evening concerts so she could take more of her students.
University of Sydney
In July 1890, she wrote a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald in response to an article written by a man saying that women had not achieved anything great, especially in poetry, drama and music. In her letter, she mentioned that Phillipa Fawcett had earned the highest marks in mathematics at Cambridge University after gaining a scholarship to Newnham College. Phillips supported the establishment of the proposed Women's College at Sydney University to similarly support women's education and wrote to both The Sydney Morning Herald and The Bulletin. A history of the Women's College states that generally, the Sydney Morning Herald was supportive of the proposed Women's College and reported favourably on the progress of fundraising for it while The Bulletin was generally derisive of the need for a Women's College.