On The Freemen of London there's a John Warner Phipps - fishmongers. But this one is the son of John - an apothecary. So possibly a cousin?
I hadn't really focused on this paragraph of Lilly's but re-reading it I was reminded of another Phipps mentioned in the original will whose middle name I could not read and whose relationship was not explained John ? Phipps coal merchant, who shares one bequest with son Robert.
John Warner Phipps appears in several directories as a coal merchant at 7, Wardrobe court, Great Carter lane.
He was born to John Phipps and Elizabeth and baptised on June 17 1739 in a Presbyterian church in Old Jewry, so the non-conformist link fits too.
So now I'm really interested in tracing the link between the two, not least since my ancestor Thomas Blunt, who married Mary Phipps the orphan granddaughter mentioned in the will, became an apothecary, despite his father, who also died when he was young, having worked at the Bank of England.
(I haven’t yet found apprenticeship records for Thomas b 1772 or his brother Robert b 1766, who was also a chemist, but as they set up shop In Southwark, they were probably not in a City of London guild.)
Anyway, belated thanks for more very useful information.
Alan
