b. as early as 1665 according to Phipps Genealogy by Martha Phipps Patterson.

"Growing side by side in his house were his nephew, John Phips, son of Captain John Phips, who had been on the James and Mary during the great adventure, and William's adopted son, Spencer Bennett, who dropped his own name in favor of Phips'.....  Originally it had been Sir William's idea to adopt his own nephew, John Phips, and there are stories that he promised to make this boy his principal heir.  Events however, did not turn out in just that way, and the change in his plan was explained by Sir William as "destined to quell domestic discord when least able to endure it."  The assertion is one of telling significance.  The Governor was high tempered, intolerant of opposition, and nephew John may have developed in a way that led to his supplanting by Lady Phips' nephew."   (Alice Lounsberry, Life of Sir William Phips) As stated before, there is no proof that John was ever adopted by Sir William.

1690;  On Quebec expedition and treasure hunt with William100

"reserving only out of the whole estate one hundred pounds current money of New England which my heirs shall pay  unto John Phips, son of my brother, John Phips, deceased, or to his heirs, if this clause be not repealed by my wife aforesaid."  Portion from the will of Sir William Phips - this legacy to be paid only if Spencer Bennet Phips die intestate before his adoptive mother Lady Mary Phips.

Abt 1700;  purchased farm north of Wrentham, Massachusetts near Medway. (Phipps Quarterly Vol. 1 ed 2; Phipps Genealogy by Weis)

1739;  Petitioned General Court for "Canada grant" for his part in the Quebec expedition.  See notes under David Phips of Cambridge. (History of Jay, Maine)   I have found no evidence that John Phips ever received a "Canada Grant" despite his petition for one.

Of Wrentham in January 1738 - 39, being "70 years of age from last December", he deposed that he lived with his family at Sheepscot above 60 years ago; afterward lived at Charlestown, went soldier under Sir Edmund."    Lived with his father's brother William after coming from Maine with Sheepscot people.  (Maine and New Hampshire Genealogical Dictionary; Phipps Quarterly Vol. 1 ed. 2)
(Expedition ordered by Andros in the winter of 1687 intended "not just to keep locals in check, but to protect the fronteirs against increased French and Indian threats. Andros redcoats and sailors might have been a welcome help, but proved a drunken lot who shouted bawdry at the local women, fought constables, and kept folk awake all hours with their brawls. Militiamen impressed to serve with the regulars Eastward in the teeth of winter found that British officers flogged them or tied them neck and heels if they didn't toady fast enough, shortened sick men's rations, and killed anyone who couldn't keep up - just as Indian raiding parties did to their weaker captives."  (The Salem Witch Trials - Marilynne K. Roach)

1742; of Dudley, Massachusetts.  (this unlikely)  (Maine and New Hampshire Genealogical Dictionary;  Weis Genealogy of Phipps)

Son John raised by Mary's mother and stepfather99

Further Sources;  The Ancestors and Descendants of John Phips of Sherborn; Morse's, The Early Planters of Sherborn, Holliston and Medway, Massachusetts

What became of John Phips? Records are scant. And why was his son John sent out to live with his grandmother Elizabeth Underwood and her second husband William Bull? Was it merely the common custom of "putting out" children that was popular during the early part of the colony?
"..an English custom that dated back at least to the sixteenth century, when children were brought up in families other then their own due to the belief that they would learn better manners than at home. Demos believes that children formed the greatest proportion of persons in servitude in the colony, and given the economic hardship of many families, and the shortage of cheap labor, these factors must also have played into the system. Children were apprenticed to learn a trade, obtain a general education in the household, including literacy, or were simply servants. Insofar as hard evidence is concerned, there is not a great deal, as the motivation of parents in putting their children to grow to adulthood away from their own family circle is only glimpsed. Sometimes it was both economic and a concern for the welfare of the child, as in the case of seven-year-old Zachariah Eddy, put to live with John Browne of Rehoboth as a servant until he was twenty-one, as his parents had "many children, & by reason of many wants lying upon them...they are not able to bring them up as they desire"...It could have been a form of welfare relief that existed in the colony, but the system is not fully explained by that conclusion. Demos concludes that there is no clear pattern that emerges. Some were from reasonably well-off, educated families, some were orphans, others from homes where economic hardship necessitated it. The historian Edmund Morgan, in his study of the Puritan family, has suggested another explanation, that parents in this culture "did not trust themselves with their own children, that they were afraid of spoiling them by too great affection", and so sent them to be brought up by others." (from The Times of Their Lives, by Deetz and Deetz)
So what was the reason that John Phips Jr. was sent out? According to existing records the family of John and Mary Underwood Phips was not a large family and there appears to have been only 2 sons born to the family. There is no further record of William Phips born in 1718, but he appears to be the same William who later married Jemima Sawtell. Wouldn't it have been beneficial for the 2nd son to have remained at home and assisted with the responsibilities of the family, or was it more beneficial for him to learn a trade at the hands of William Bull who appears to have been an educated man with the trade of brick maker? I have found no record that supports the notion that John Phips Jr. ever practiced the trade of brick making.

No birth, death, marriage or burial records have been found on John Phips Sr. despite extensive search.  No will has been found in Suffolk or Middlesex Co. - I have not checked Norfolk Co. as yet..  Wrentham and Medway have no record of him, nor does Charlestown, Watertown, Sherborn, Dedham, Medfield, Dudley, Douglas, Woburn, Reading, Sudbury or surrounding towns. Sure would like to find some more evidence
that he existed!