John Philip was born in Fife, Scotland on 14 April 1775. He trained as a minister of the Congregational Church and served in Aberdeen, Scotland until 1819. In he same year, he was sent to South Africa along with John Campbell, to supervise the mission stations of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in South Africa.  

In 1822, Philip became the superintendent of all LMS stations in South Africa and lobbied for the rights of the indigenous people he worked amongst. As a result of Philip's views, the British government passed the ordinance of 1828, in which apparently all free Coloured persons were granted the same rights as British subjects.

Despite these efforts, Philip became unpopular in South Africa as his campaigns for indigenous rights signalled the extension of British administration over indigenous peoples. In later years, Philip was criticised for the segregationist nature of his writings and was accused of acting as a one-man pressure group on influential people in England.

It is also said that his doctor's degrees were bought from Columbia University and Princeton College, in an attempt to aid his work with the LMS.

Following the British annexation of the Griqua lands in 1849, and Dr. Philip retired to the mission station in Hankey, Cape Colony (now Eastern Cape). He died on 27 August 1851 and was buried beside the Hankey railway line.

Related:

1. Dr. Philip - Defender of the Hottentots
2. Missionary settlement in South Africa

References:

1. Biography: Scottish Superintendent of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in Southern Africa- History of Missiology [online] digilib.bu.edu [Accessed 19 August 2009]
2. Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 8, p.518.
3. Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau