Danny Phillips
Image: Eileen Redden
FatherJohn Phillips b. 25 Jul 1863, d. 6 Aug 1925
MotherEllen O'Loughlin b. 26 Mar 1869, d. 24 Jun 1951
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Daniel Phillips was born on 6 October 1908 in Maddingley, Victoria.1 
He married Kathleen Maude Keane, daughter of John Joseph Keane and Sarah Ann Fuzzard, in 1939 in Tatura, Victoria.2,3 
He died on 4 May 1981 in Shepparton, Victoria, at age 72. 

Family

Kathleen Maude Keane b. 1916, d. 6 Oct 1996
ChartsO'Loughlin, Michael, descendant chart
Phillips, James, descendant chart

Story

Danny was born and grew up in Bacchus Marsh. As a teenager, he moved to Shepparton where he worked as a hairdresser and learnt the art of SP bookmaking from his brothers, Tom and Jack. He moved to Tatura where he continued both enterprises. Just after marrying Kathleen 'Bub' Keane, he went off to serve in WW2. He and Bub lived in Tatura. They had no children.
 
Daniel was born at Maddingley in Bacchus Marsh on 6 October 1908. He was the ninth child of Ellen and John. He was known as Danny.1
 
When Danny was born, his father worked for the railways in Bacchus Marsh, and they lived in likely a railway house in Turner St. They moved to another railway house soon after he was born.

All the children attended St Bernard's school or St Joseph's Convent school.4
 
In 1890 four sisters of the order of St Joseph's, arrived from Sydney to act as educators. A house was purchased for them to use as a convent and high class ladies' school. In time, a detached schoolhouse was erected at the site and it was then that the students were relocated for the last time to our current site in Gisborne Rd - St Bernard's School.

Our beautiful convent was erected in 1900 with classes being held in the downstairs area and the upper floor being used as convent and boarding school. The attached chapel was built in 1905.

St Bernard's was the first Catholic school to be run by the Sisters of St Joseph, founded by Saint Mary MacKillop. Mary would often visit the convent on her journeys between Sydney and Melbourne and past students fondly remembered her handing out boiled lollies to the children.5
 
Danny Phillips was a great mate of mine at school. We'd walk the girls down the paddock behind the Church of England. Sister Remedios saw us with our arms around them and gave us a thrashing the next morning. She was a great one with the bloody belt. She brought the blood from Danny's legs. I thought I'd go second thinking that she'd be puffed out by the time she'd finished with Danny, but I think she had a second wind.

Everybody seemed to know each other in Bacchus Marsh. We used to play football together and put in a lot of time down at Flanagan's billiard room round the corner from the park. We'd play fifty-up with Harry Woolers, Curly Cowan and Soapie and all the Phillips boys.

My mother would never let strong drink into the house. When Dan and the boys used to come over playing cards, they'd bring two or three bottles of beer and hide them under the Cyprus hedge outside until mum had gone to bed. They had to take the empties home with them. [George Vallence (brother of Soapie)]6
 
In 1908, the family moved into the gatehouse on Vallence Rd.

The gatehouse was next to the railway line on the north-east corner of the Vallence Rd crossing (this crossing was removed in 2004). It was a small four-roomed house, and the older boys slept in a tent in the back yard.

The children would play with any children nearby or who were known through school or St Bernard's church. There was a strong connection with all the Vallence families with a number living nearby including Nell, Eddie, Amy and Harry, who were just over the railway line. Lifelong friendships were known between the Phillips children and Vallences. And Mary married Bill Vallence.

The wide age range of the children, nineteen years to the day between the eldest and youngest, created an interesting household. Larry was working as a hairdresser before Eileen was born. He married when Eileen was just three, and made her Auntie Eileen at age four, before she started school.

During and following the First World War, the children gradually started leaving home.

Larry was first to leave the gatehouse, around 1914. About five years later he was followed by Tess and Tom. Last to leave home from the gatehouse was Mary in 1923.7,5,4,8,9
 
Sunnyside
When their father died in 1925, the children still at the gatehouse, Jack, Joe, Jim, Annie, Danny and Eilie, moved with their mother to a recently completed house on Vallence Rd. This house was on the north-facing side of a hill and they named it 'Sunnyside'. In later years, nephews and nieces all referred to it as 'the house on the hill'. It was a twin weatherboard house with a covering between the two sections.

It is possible Jack and Joe stayed in the gatehouse for a couple of years after the others left, as Jack is shown as still at the gatehouse in 1926 and 1927, and Joe was still in Bacchus Marsh.10,9,11,12,13,14,15,16
 
Aunty Eil and Uncle Dan used to travel to dances on the back of a truck with George Vallence and a group of others to Ballan and Myrniong. George and Uncle Dan were best mates and he would sing 'Oh Danny Boy' to Dan. I think they all got into a lot of mischief. [Moyna Redden]17
 
The Phillips and Vallence families had many connections over the years.18,12,19,20
Henry Ryan Vallence and Danny Phillips
BUS CAPSIZES
Six Persons Receive Injuries
GEELONG, Sunday.- A motor bus containing 21 persons was returning to Bacchus Marsh on Saturday night, when the vehicle skidded and capsized at a spot North of Geelong. There was much alarm among the occupants of the vehicle. With the assistance of passers-by they were quickly freed.

The following passengers were conveyed to Geelong Hospital and treated:- Daniel Phillips, 23 years, injury to head and shock ... All were allowed to leave hospital after a brief period of detention.

The persons in the bus were residents of Bacchus Marsh, and had been to Geelong for the Bacchus Marsh-Newtown football match. [Oct 1931]21
 
St Bernard's Social.- The monthly dance-euchre social in Landsberg hall was well attended on Tuesday night, and patrons were provided with every requirement for an enjoyable time. The euchre-winners were Mr Dan Phillips; and Miss M McCormack and Mrs Lambert, who divided the ladies' prize. [Dec 1932]22
 
TOOLERN VALE
(From our own correspondent.)
The annual Church of England Ball which had been happily anticipated for some considerable time, took place on Tuesday last, when all expectations were doubly fulfilled, even to the beautifully calm and bright night. ... A fox-trot competition, which was a feature of the night, created much enthusiasm and after 17 couples had been carefully watched and the adjudicator's task cut down to a fine art Mr Dan Phillips and Miss M Cowan were declared the winners. ... [Sep 1933]23
 
Danny was in his sister Eileen's wedding party.
unknown, unknown, Tom Redden, Eileen (Phillips), unknown, Dan Phillips, Apr 1935
Image: Rene Barnes
Hairdresser
By 1927, aged 18 or 19, Danny was in the hairdressers at the front of the billiard saloon in Shepparton run by his brothers Tom and Jack. No doubt Danny learned a thing or two about the art of being an SP bookie during his time there, as he was an SP bookie for the rest of his life.24,25,26,27
 
By the mid-1930s, he was in the hairdresser adjoining the Shepparton Hotel in Wyndham St. He lived in a nearby boarding house at 221 Wyndham St.28,29,30
 
In September 1936, Ellen stayed with Jim and Reece in Murchison. Danny was in Una hospital in Shepparton at the time, and he planned to return to Bacchus Marsh with his mother for a holiday.31,32
 
In 1937, he set up in Tatura where he remained as a hairdresser for the rest of his life.33
 
Billiard Brothers
Brothers Tom, Jack, Joe and Danny all had some involvement in billiard saloons in Shepparton.
 
Tom had established a four-table billiard saloon in High St, later expanded to six tables, and had been running it for four years.34,35
 
By early December 1926, Tom had decided to establish a second billiard saloon with the help of his brothers.34
 
The second billiard saloon was also in High St, further west at no. 41 [later Cellar 47 in renumbered High St].

In January 1927, Jack quit his job in Bacchus Marsh and headed to Shepparton:
Mr 'Jack' Phillips, who has been a member of the Bacchus Marsh Co-operative Store staff since its foundation (eight years ago last July) left there last week-end, with the object of entering business with his brother at Shepparton.

Danny, only 18 or 19 at the time, also left Bacchus Marsh for Shepparton.

Tom described the working arrangements:
Then Roy McPherson built The News; underground, where Cellar 47 is now - a real old gentleman, Roy.

He was going to put his staff in there I think, but for some reason he agreed to lease it to me.

We put in another four tables and a hair dressing salon, my brother Jack and I running it with Tommy McAuliffe working for me and Danny (who runs a salon in Tatura now) in the hair dressers.

In 1928, Jack returned to Bacchus Marsh to be replaced by Joe, who had been working in Bacchus Marsh as a billiard marker for the previous three or four years.36,34,35,37,15,16,38
 
Tom only had both billiard saloons for a year or so, around 1928. Before that he leased only the more eastern one at 55 High St. After 1928 he leased only the more western one in the basement at 41 High St. and held it until 1935.

In November 1928, Joe was granted a billiard licence for six tables in Shepparton. None of the newspaper summary licensing court reports shows Tom as licensee, only Joe. Yet court reports relating to objections or misdemeanours, plus other records, refer to Tom as proprietor or running the saloons.

In 1929, Joe was granted the licence jointly with Henry Hill. In 1930 and 1931, he held it on his own.

Billiards
Phillips' saloon tournament
A record number of 220 entries has been received for the open billiard tournament, which begins this week at Phillips’ saloon, High Street. The proprietor (Mr Tom Phillips) claims this to be the largest entry in a billiard tournament outside the metropolitan area. Besides the many local enthusiasts who have entered, players from Toolamba, Ardmona, and the districts round Shepparton will be present. Owing to the great interest which has developed, Mr Phillips has decided to give a handsome trophy for a second prize. The first prize is a £10/10/ suit of clothes tailored by Messrs Lunn and Holmes. The players and their handicaps are as follows: ... [Sep 1929]

Another tobacco robbery
Some time Sunday night burglars made their way through an open window into the billiard room of Mr TJ Phillips, High Street. Then by means of a jemmy or big chisel, the marks of which are plainly visible, they forced a swing window open and entered the adjoining barber's and tobacconist's establishment of Mr H Mathieson where they took possession of about £50 worth of tobacco and cigarettes, as well as about 12/- in loose silver, which was in one of the tills. [Feb 1931]38,35,39,40,41,42,43

 
It has been noted that the Phillips boys dressed well. These two photos of Danny were taken at the same time in Bacchus Marsh, possibly around the time of Eilie's 1935 marriage.25
Danny Phillips, Millbank St, Bacchus Marsh
Image: Eileen Redden
Mary, Danny & Eileen (Phillips), Millbank St, Bacchus Marsh
Image: Eileen Redden
Marriage
Kathleen Maude Keane and Daniel Phillips were married in Tatura, Victoria in 1939. They had no children.44,2
 
The only photo we have with both Danny and Bub was taken before they married.
Mary Vallence (Phillips), Tom Redden, Eileen Redden (Phillips), Bub Phillips, Ellen Phillips (O'Loughlin), John Redden, Danny Phillips (seated), 16 Millbank St, Bacchus Marsh c. 1937
Image: Eileen Redden
The couple remained in Tatura, though they moved several times: from Hogan St, to Thompson St, to Alexander Ave, and finally to Gowrie St.33,45,46,47
 
Military Service
Daniel Phillips enlisted in the Australian Military Forces at the Melbourne town hall on 5 February 1942, aged 33. His army number was VX74516.48
Image: NAA
Daniel Phillips
Image: Roylyn Phillips
As next of kin, he gave his wife Kathleen. The address given was originally PO Tatura. It was later changed to 44 Lang St, South Yarra, the home of her brother Michael James Keane. In February 1943, it was changed to c/o Mrs A Gregory, 1A Moodie St, Carnegie, Victoria. This was two weeks after Danny had been AWL for five days from Camp Pell in Melbourne.

Danny trained for three months at Puckapunyal near Seymour after which he transferred to the 8th Salvage Regiment.

In March 1943, as part of the 3rd Australian Division Salvage Unit, he embarked from Townsville and disembaked at Port Moresby in New Guinea. In August 1943, he was granted proficiency pay.

There are no reports of injury, but four of illness. The first three were in June, August and October 1943, and were 'PUO' (pyrexia (fever) of unknown origin) for 10 days, pyelitis (inflammation of the kidney) for 13 days, and PUO, later diagnosed as Dengue fever, for 18 days. The fourth occasion in May 1944 was malaria and he was evacuated to Australia for over a month for recovery.

Danny returned from New Guinea once for leave. He was home for all of April 1944.48,49
 
Daniel Phillips was discharged at Royal Park in Melbourne on 23 October 1944. He was aged 35, and assessed as height 5' 6", eyes brown, hair dark, and complexion medium. He gave his residence after discharge as Tatura Post Office.

Danny's total period of service was 973 days of which 923 days were active service, 472 abroad and 451 in Australia. He received four service medals: the 1939/45 Star, Pacific Star, War Medal and Australia Service Medal. He also received a Returned From Active Service badge.48
 
After the war, Danny returned to hairdressing (and SP bookmaking) in Tatura.

In later years, he kept in touch with brothers Tom and Joe in Shepparton, and other family who visited the area.

This is the last photo we have of Danny.26
Eileen Redden (Phillips) & Danny Phillips, Hotel Australia, Shepparton
Image: Eileen Redden
Lung Disease
Hairdressers have higher risk of lung disease than the general population. Five years before his death, Danny was diagnosed with chronic obstructive airways disease and may also have had lung cancer. Daniel Phillips died of bronchopneumonia in Shepparton on 4 May 1981, aged 72. He was buried on 6 May at Tatura cemetery.50,51,2
Tatura cemetery
Image: BillionGraves

Citations

  1. [S356] Daniel Phillips, birth registration no. 24048, 6 October 1908.
  2. [S395] Daniel Phillips, death registration no. 9758, 4 May 1981.
  3. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Daniel Phillips and 'Kathleen Maude' Keane entry, marriage registration no. 2555, 1939.
  4. [S318] Bacchus Marsh & District Historical Society, personal communication, 3 November 2013.
  5. [S2] 'History', St Bernard's Parish Primary School, online, St Bernard's Parish Primary School, Bacchus Marsh, August 2021, viewed 12 September 2021.
  6. [S287] Bacchus Marsh by Bacchus Marsh: An anecdotal history, Shire of Bacchus Marsh in conjunction with Hargreen Publishing Company, North Melbourne, 1986, p. 155-159.
  7. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Corio, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1908.
  8. [S38] Lynette Dow, personal communication, 18 December 1996.
  9. [S331] Joan McClure, personal communication, 11 December 2013.
  10. [S32] Laurie Phillips, personal communication, December 2013.
  11. [S44] Roylyn Phillips, personal communication, 13 March 1996.
  12. [S37] Margaret Deveney, personal communication, 11 March 1996.
  13. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Ballaarat, Victorian division of Bulla, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1926.
  14. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Ballaarat, Victorian division of Grant, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1927.
  15. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Ballaarat, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1926.
  16. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Ballaarat, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1927.
  17. [S281] 'Phillips Family', Facebook, webpage, Facebook Inc, group created 25 June 2011, comment by Moyna Redden in 27 May 2020 post by Peter Phillips.
  18. [S136] Moyna Redden, personal communication, 28 March 1998.
  19. [S331] Joan McClure, personal communication, 19 December 2013.
  20. [S32] Laurie Phillips, personal communication, 3 December 2013.
  21. [S171] 'Bus Capsizes: Six persons receive injuries', The Age, 1854-, newspaper, 5 October 1931, p. 8, viewed 25 June 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/204343164
  22. [S572] 'Bacchus Marsh', Melton Express, 1905-1943, newspaper, Christopher Crisp, 17 December 1932, p. 2, viewed 25 June 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/254724416
  23. [S572] 'Toolern Vale', Melton Express, 1905-1943, newspaper, Christopher Crisp, 2 September 1933, p. 2, viewed 25 June 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/254731414
  24. [S247] 'Mine host pulls his last glass', Shepparton News, 27 September 1979, p. 9, 'We put in another four tables and a hair dressing salon, my brother Jack and I running it with Tommy McAuliffe working for me and Danny (who runs a salon in Tatura now) in the hair dressers' - Tom Phillips.
  25. [S61] Beverley Scott, personal communication, 12 July 1996.
  26. [S32] Laurie Phillips, personal communication, 12 August 2014.
  27. [S18] Tom Carey, 'Publican Tom dies at 83', Shepparton News, 1877-, newspaper, Roy McPherson, 9 December 1980.
  28. [S102] Jack Phillips, personal communication, 2 March 2013.
  29. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Echuca, Victorian division of Goulburn Valley, subdivision of Shepparton, 1936.
  30. [S260] 'Successful auction sale', Goulburn Valley Stock and Property Journal, 1910-1963, newspaper, Horan & Simpson, 24 March 1937, p. 1, viewed 30 June 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/219773080
  31. [S201] 'The Social Round: Social notes', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 14 September 1935, p. 7, viewed 25 June 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175420415
  32. [S201] 'Personal', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 14 September 1935, p. 4, viewed 25 June 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175420457/…
  33. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Indi, Victorian division of Rodney, subdivision of Tatura, 1937.
  34. [S247] 'Mine host pulls his last glass', Shepparton News, 27 September 1979, p. 9.
  35. [S233] Shepparton Shire & Town Rates Index, 1885-1939/1941, computer file, Shepparton Family History Group.
  36. [S572] 'Bacchus Marsh', Melton Express, 1905-1943, newspaper, Christopher Crisp, 29 January 1927, p. 2, viewed 9 June 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/254697548
  37. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Ballaarat, subdivision of Bacchus Marsh, 1925.
  38. [S201] 'Licensing court: Billiard licenses', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 26 November 1928, p. 4, viewed 16 August 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/179176738
  39. [S201] 'Billiards: Phillips' saloon tournament', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 5 September 1929, p. 7, viewed 20 October 2017, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186948783
  40. [S260] 'Items of interest: Another tobacco robbery', Goulburn Valley Stock and Property Journal, 1910-1963, newspaper, Horan & Simpson, 18 February 1931, p. 3, viewed 16 August 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/215115410
  41. [S201] 'Annual licensing court: Billiard licenses', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 25 November 1929, p. 5, viewed 7 September 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186950103
  42. [S201] 'Licensing court: Billiard licences', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 1 December 1930, p. 3, viewed 16 August 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/171709681
  43. [S201] 'Licensing court: Billiard licences', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 30 November 1931, p. 8, viewed 7 September 2020, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/186776747
  44. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Daniel Phillips and Kathleen Maude Keane entry, marriage registration no. 2555, 1939.
  45. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Murray, subdivision of Tatura, 1949.
  46. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Murray, subdivision of Tatura, 1963.
  47. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Murray, subdivision of Tatura, 1968.
  48. [S592] 'Daniel Phillips', B883 Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947, control symbol VX74516, service record, 3 February 1942.
  49. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, division of Fawkner, subdivision of South Yarra, 1943.
  50. [S2] Hashemi, Boskabady and Nazari, 'Occupational Exposures and Obstructive Lung Disease: A case-control study in hairdressers', Respiratory Care, online, 2010, viewed 8 July 2020 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20587102/
  51. [S2] Takkouche, Montes-Martínez and Regueira-Méndez, 'Risk of cancer among hairdressers and related workers: a meta-analysis', International Journal of Epidemiology, online, 14 September 2009, viewed 1 October 2014 http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/38/6/1512.full