Phillip Wylie is a wealthy plantation owner in Edenton in the colony of North Carolina.
Personal History[]
Little is known of Phillip's personal history beyond that he came into his wealth at a young age. Through his wealth he moves in high ranked social circles knowing people with various levels of influence.
Events of the Novels[]
Drums of Autumn[]
In June of 1767, Phillip is a guest at a dinner party hosted by a Mr. Lillington in honor of his guest, Governor Tryon. It is at this dinner he first meets Jamie and Claire Fraser. He is much more interested in Claire than any business to do with Jamie. During the dinner, he flirts with Claire and believes that she reciprocates his interest.
Weeks later, Wylie attends Jocasta Cameron's dinner at her plantation, River Run, held in honor of her nephew Jamie and his wife. He is brought along by his host, MacNeill of Barra Meadows, and confesses to Claire that he wanted to come once he knew that she would be there. While Claire thinks nothing of her own behavior towards him, Wylie takes her response as further evidence of their mutual attraction, veiled by witty repartee and quoting the Song of Solomon.
The Fiery Cross[]
In March of 1771, Phillip attends the wedding of Jocasta and Duncan Innes at River Run. During the festivities, he makes several attempts to get Claire alone. He manages to corner her in the stables while showing her his new foal, and kisses her against her will. His attempt at seduction is bluntly denied when she calls him a 'puppy', for which Wylie is greatly affronted.
Later in the evening, looking for some kind of retribution, Phillip baits Jamie into a high stakes game of cards. Jamie agrees and uses both of Claire's wedding rings to gamble with. To Phillip's dismay, he and his partner Lloyd Stanhope lose to Jamie and Major MacDonald, not only costing him his pride, but his Friesian horse, Lucas, as well. He sees Claire the next morning sitting outside in her shift with Dr. Fentiman, sharing what he thinks is an intimate moment. In his jealousy, he has a few brief and rude words about the type of woman Claire is, unaware that a patient under the two doctors' care had died. Doctor Fentiman escorts Claire away from the scene.
On his way back from the stables after saying goodbye to his prized horse, Phillip stumbles across Claire in the middle of performing an autopsy on Betty, the slave woman who had died the night before. Phillip is obviously and reasonably horrified by the sight of Claire, standing over the corpse with hands covered in blood and viscera, but he is unaware that Jamie is also in the shed, and that the notorious Stephen Bonnet has entered the shed behind him. He runs as Jamie chases after him and Bonnet. Wylie is caught by Jamie and his son-in-law, Roger MacKenzie, and ends up spending the night held captive in the stables.
The two men and Claire come in later to question him about Bonnet, and he insists that he has no knowledge of the man, nor how he came to follow Wylie into the shed. Given his responses to the interrogation – he seems truly unaware that Bonnet was behind him, and likewise that Jocasta and Duncan had been attacked – they determine he is innocent. They release him under the condition he is to never speak of what he saw in the shed.
In 1772, during Jamie and Roger's pursuit of Bonnet, they plan to ambush Bonnet at Wylie's Landing, having been tipped that Bonnet would be there. However, Bonnet does not show up; instead, they encounter a Russian family transporting boars that Wylie had bought, intending to hunt the beasts on his property, as well as David Anstruther, Sheriff of Orange County, and Randall Lillington,[2] a magistrate of the circuit court.
Personality[]
Phillip, being young and wealthy, is vain and prone to excess, desiring to show off his wealth through both his personal fashion and prized Friesian horses. Like most of his contemporaries, he will not suffer injury to his pride without reprisal.
Physical Appearance[]
Claire describes him as a dandy, wearing the latest wigs in fashion and a small beauty patch beside his mouth. Under the powder, though, she can detect both a good-looking face and a very shrewd brain.[3]
Relationships[]
Claire Fraser[]
Phillip became instantly attracted to Claire upon their first meeting in 1767 at Governor Tryon's dinner party. He misinterprets Claire's responses to his flirting to mean she likes him back.
With this misguided view that his interest is returned he attempted to seduce her at Jocasta and Duncan Innes' wedding in 1771. His attempt was bluntly rebuffed, leaving Phillip's pride injured and his view of Claire altered by her scorning his affection.
Name[]
- Phillip is a variant of Philip,[4] from the Greek name Φιλιππος (Philippos) which means "friend of horses", composed of the elements φιλος (philos) "friend, lover" and ‘ιππος (hippos) "horse".[5]
- Wylie is from a pet form of the personal name William,[6] from the Germanic name Willahelm, which was composed of the elements wil "will, desire" and helm "helmet, protection".[7] Or possibly a locational name, derived from the places called Willey in the counties of Cheshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Devonshire and Surrey.[8]
Trivia[]
TV Series[]
Actor Chris Donald portrays Phillip Wylie in the Outlander television adaptation.
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Age by the end of Written in My Own Heart's Blood.
- ↑ Printed as Randall Lillywhite; changed to Randall Lillington in A Breath of Snow and Ashes and The Outlandish Companion, Vol. II.
- ↑ Drums of Autumn, chapter 7
- ↑ Behind the Name: Phillip - accessed 19 July 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name: Philip - accessed 19 July 2016
- ↑ Ancestry: Wylie - accessed 19 July 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name: William - accessed 19 July 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name Surname: Wylie - accessed 19 July 2016