Seaton Clifford Laybourne Phillips 1928-2024
This is a memorial gallery for Seaton Phillips. Click on any of the thumbnails for a full-screen image. If you have other photos you’d like to add, please email me. Thank you.
Here is the eulogy of Seaton’s life, written by his children and read at his funeral.
You can also read (or listen to) my poem, The Adventurer.
Seaton wrote two books with accounts of his adventures: A Family in Africa and From South Wales to New South Wales, by Train. Both are available from Amazon.
1928-1963
Seaton, aged about 5, c1933.
This painting stood in a small frame on the sideboard at Llwynffynnon Uchaf.
Seaton with George, Oliver, Martin and Marge Probyn, Walter and Dorothy Phillips. (At Grey Hill? c1955)
Seaton with his 200cc 'Tiger Cub' motorbike on Mynydd Rudry. 1954.
Seaton canoeing down rapids on the Tweed near Kelso.
Seaton on the summit of Stac Polly, Sutherland. 5th July 1964.
Seaton in the Pyrenees, June 1965. Looking down to the Benasque valley and the Refuge de la Rencluse.
Seaton and Marion's wedding day, Bryn Cemlyn, 27th April 1963.
Seaton and Marion's wedding day, at Bryn Cemlyn. 27th April 1963.
Banba, Jock?, Seaton, Dorothy? , Marion, Walter.
1963-1972
Seaton and Marion with their first child, Peter. January 1964.
Seaton and Marion and Peter with Dorothy and Walter Phillips at Golden Chine, Stocksfield. 1964.
Seaton and Peter and Mist at Burton Latimer Hall with garden figures. 31st January 1966.
Picnic at Devil's Water. Seaton, Marion and Peter. 17th July 1965.
At Devil's Water. Seaton, Marion and Peter. 17th July 1965.
Seaton with Peter, Blackpool, 16th Oct 1965.
Jennifer’s christening, Highley. With Marion, Peter and Seaton. 30.10.66.
Jennifer’s christening, Highley. 30.10.66
Graham Day, Bo Masters with Jennifer, Banba Pennant, ?, Peter, Marion, Seaton, Alice and David Pennant.
Canoe on Tweed, Old Melrose. Seaton and Peter. 19.3.66
Seaton and Peter with Alice and David Pennant at Parkbury. February 1965.
Family group at Beaumont, Monmouth. Peter, Dorothy, Alison, Timothy, Marion, Seaton and 'Mist'. May 1969.
At The Newlands, Easter 1968?
Seaton, Camilla, Pyers, Peter, Marion (with lamb), Donald, Jeremy.
Seaton with Jennifer in the playhouse at The Newlands. But who are the babies? c1968
Seaton and Timothy, with Laburnum in flower. (1969)
Heatwave haymaking at The Newlands. Seaton and Peter. June 1970.
Spray showering. Seaton and Peter in the garden at The Newlands. June 1970.
Crosscut sawing at The Newlands.
Seaton and Marion with Peter, Jenny and Tim. Jan. 1971.
Shooting party, Chapelpark Moor. 13.9.66
1972-73: A Family in Africa
“Let’s go to Africa”. Jennifer perhaps a bit doubtful, Timothy wonders if we will have lunch there, Peter points out exactly where he will be taking us.
At The Newlands, summer 1972.
A family ready to leave for Africa. Monmouth, Sept 1972.
Marion, Timothy, Jennifer, Peter, Seaton.
Seaton fitting new exhaust manifold, Ghardaia, Algeria. 1972.
Seaton eating porridge in the Sahara Desert. (A photo specifically requested by Ellen Masters.) 1972.
Seaton riding a 'camel'! Sahara Desert in Algeria. 1972.
Pic Laperrrine, Tamanrasset, Algeria. 1972.
Seaton on a camel in Niger. 1972.
Seaton, Bo Masters and Jennifer on a cruise on Lake Chad. 1972.
Reunion near Goma, Zaire after Seaton’s 3 weeks in hospital in Bangui. At Mr. Kostas’ bungalow kindly lent to us while waiting for Seaton. 1973.
Seaton, Peter, Marion, Timothy, Jennifer, Bo Masters.
Seaton shaving near Kigali (capital of Rwanda) with a small fascinated audience. Peter and Timothy playing with cars and roadways. 1973.
Disaster. Breakdown. Finding a broken half-shaft at an off-road camp site. 4-wheel drive now no longer available. Tanzania, 1973.
Seaton with Sugarbush in flower.
Rwanda, 1973.
Seaton with Masai tribesmen in typical red robes, bargaining for a photo. Amboseli, Kenya. 1973.
Seaton watching elephants enjoying a mud-bath. Amboseli, Kenya, 1973.
NAIROBI. Journey’s end, 10,500 miles and 6 months from Highley. March 27, 1973. Nairobi Cathedral is in the background.
At the Beakbanes’ house (Colborne relations), Limuru, near Nairobi. 1973
Jenny, Peter, Marion, ?, ?, Tim, Seaton.
Inspecting vehicle ‘flags’ at Karen, Kenya before departure back to UK. Seaton, Jenny, Peter. 1973
These are the countries we visited: Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Zaire, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya. (no flags for Rwanda and Tanzania due to change of route)
1973-2000
Seaton took part as a contestant in a TV quiz show for people who were learning Welsh, c1978
Seaton, Alison, Jenny, Peter, Tim, Marion. (c1977)
Walter and Dorothy's Golden Wedding, 1975.
Back: Seaton and Marion Phillips, Bernard and Rosalind Marchant, Walter and Dorothy Phillips, Alison Phillips, Richard and Jan Harpur.
Front: Peter, Cathy, George, Nick, Jenny, Tim, Christopher, Philip, James.
Seaton baling hay with Jones baler. 7th June 1976.
Swim in the Teifi at Cwmisdwr. Seaton with Peter, Jenny and Tim. July 1975.
Seaton and Peter in the Alps. 1980.
Seaton meets a cow in the Alps. 1980.
Peter, Marion, Seaton looking at a Glacier in Switzerland, 1980.
Seaton, Timothy and Peter consulting the map in the Alps, 1980.
Seaton and family at a wild campsite in the Alps, 1980.
Seaton and Peter in action on the tennis court. Near Brecon, June 1981.
Pyers and Jessica in the background?
Seaton in Snowdonia on a camping and climbing holiday with Pyers and family. August 1981.
What occasion was this? Please let me know if you can identify date or place or people.
Seaton with Andreas and Erich (?), Salzburg, Austria, October 1999.
Seaton with a fellow youth-hosteller, Sicily (?), October 1999.
2000-2024
Seaton with Olivia, Poole, c2001.
David and Jennie's 25th Wedding Anniversary, 2004.
Alice and Alex's wedding, Felindre, 2006.
Pennant sibling group, c2010.
Back: David, Pyers, Seaton, Chris.
Front: Jennie, Camilla, Marion, Nick.
Helen, Tim, Jenny, Peter, Alice, Marion and Seaton.
(At Pyers' funeral, 2018)
Seaton's 90th birthday, March 2018.
Seaton, Jenny, Marion.
Seaton and Marion at Aberaeron, 2020.
Seaton and Marion at Llwynfynnon Uchaf, c2020
Seaton with great-grandson Noah, 2022
Seaton with Jenny, Adam and Noah, 2022.
Son, Father, Grandmother, Great-grandfather.
Seaton with Noah, September 2023.
Seaton and Marion with Christopher Marchant, Gloria and Tom in the garden at Llwynffynnon Uchaf (2022)
Seaton at Cwmtydu, July 2019.
Alison and Seaton at Cwmtydu, July 2019.
Seaton at Llwynffynnon Uchaf, c2020.
Seaton reading Peter's 'Poems from Poole', 2023.
Seaton at Llwynffynnon Uchaf, Autumn 2022.
Seaton in the garden at Llwynffynnon Uchaf, 2023