Page 7 - Lansdowne Gardens Newsletter Autumn 2017_Final

7 LANSDOWNE NEWS, AUTUMN 2017

Happy Birthday

We wish the following residents

a very Happy Birthday:

March

12 March Ronald Mc.
15 March Joan S.
20 March Koula Phil and Ruth at Lord Howe Island
21 March Joan L.
26 March Veronica
27 March Patricia Meet Philip Harvey
April
1 April Philip Phil Harvey was born in Muswellbrook, NSW. The family moved to
2 April Sylvia Bronte when he was very young. His father died when he was four and
he and his three siblings (one sister and two brothers) were raised by
5 April Mary N.
his amazing mother in what became the family home of 70 years in
8 April Margaret Mc.
Mosman. Phil tells lots of stories about growing up in Mosman: playing
10 April Dawn all sorts of sports with his friends in the streets and on the local ovals
12 April Elizabeth (cricket, running, rugby, baseball) and socialising with family and
friends. He attended Mosman Primary School and Scots College.
14 April Kenneth
17 April Gwen Phil entered "petty sessions" (now known as the Local Court of New
28 April Prue South Wales) as a junior clerk when he was 18 years old. This led to a
lifetime career in the law which included working as a lawyer in the
May
Attorney General's Department and Premier's Department and then to
2 May Blanche becoming a Magistrate of the Local Court in 1983 ‐ retiring 15 years
5 May Margot later. He sat primarily as a Licencing magistrate with his final year at
the Magistrate of the Court in Bathurst and surrounding country areas.
12 May Marie B.
13 May Pixie As Phil said in his retirement speech in 1998, "I am a happy man,
30 May Ann perhaps the happiest retired man on the face of the earth". In that
speech he named a number of reasons for his happiness including "I
am alive...I survived a deadly illness in 1988...I have been true to the words I spoke at my swearing in (as a magistrate)
when I said I would never allow my integrity to be put in question...I have two beautiful children...I remain friends with
my ex‐wife...and my partner Ruth and I share a deep affection for each other and will be together whenever possible
into the future."
Phil and his first wife had two children, Ruth and Guy, who have given him three wonderful grandsons: Tom (15), Will
(12) and Ashton (6). Phil has fond memories of travelling overseas and in Australia with his family while they were still
quite young. He thoroughly enjoys seeing his children and grandchildren who live in Central NSW and Brisbane.

Phil has continued to follow his passion for travelling with his partner of 19 years, Ruth ‐ to many places around the
globe including Europe, North and South America, the Galápagos Islands, Japan, Russia and, of course, Australia. He has
climbed Machu Picchu and the Eiffel Tower, swum with the sharks in Galapagos, run various marathons and 24 City to
Surfs in Sydney, and skied in the Rocky Mountains in Canada (which allowed Phil and Ruth to see Ruth's family who had
adopted Phil as their own). Along with his family and friends, music, sports, travelling and a thirst for knowledge have
always been very important to Phil. He learned to play the flute and drums (including being the lead drummer in the
band of the National Service in 1959 and playing in "The Full Bench" when he was a magistrate). His thirst for knowledge
motivated him to pursue two Masters degrees after his law degree ‐ one in Public Policy and one in Politics.

Phil continues to enjoy listening to music and entertaining his fellow residents at Lansdowne Gardens with his eclectic
music collection, his love of historical facts (including trivia) and his quiet sense of humour.