POET'S ILL-FORTUNE.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 253, 23 October 1909, Page 15

POET'S ILL-FORTUNE.

IIR. STEPHEN PHILLIPS BANKRUPT AND STRANDED AT BRIGHTON. Ml. Stephen Phillips, the well-known poet and dramatist, described as formerly of The Cottage, Woodthorpe-road, Ashford, Middlesex, should have attended at the London Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday, September 7, for his public examination, but did not appear. ' * The Assistant-Receiver reported that he believed that Mr. Phillips was living "In very straitened circumstances" at Brighton, and was without means to travel to London. He attributed his present position to the failure of the "Last Heir" and of "Faust," and estimated his liabilities at £300. Mr. Martin Harvey produced the '"Last Heir" at the Artelphl last autumn, and "Faust." written In collaboration with Mr. J. Comyns Carr, appeared at His Majesty's Theatre. The son of the Rev. Dr. Stephen Phillips, percentor of Peterborough Cathedral, he wa» born in 1567. Having a taste for the stage, he joined one of Mr. F. R. Benson's repertoire companies, playing many roles. For a time he filled a position as tutor with an Army "poach." His first play. "Paolo and Francesca," in blank verse, which appeared in 1809, was a triumphant success, and his "Ulysses" and "Herod" had pood runs at His Majesty's. •'Nero" nnd "The Sin of David" are others of his poetical works. Mr. Phillips made a temporary reappearance on the stage as the Ghost in Mr. Martin Harvey's revival of "Hamlet" at the Lyric In May, 1005. Mr. Phillips married Miss May Lidyard.