Robert Fox MD (1798 - 1843)

Born 22 Mar 1798 in Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Jane (Ashton) Fox — married 20 Nov 1821 in St Mary and St Benedict's Church, Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire, England

Husband of Anne (Taylor) Fox — married 16 Oct 1832 in Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 7 Jun 1843 at age 45 in Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire, England

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Biography

Surgeon, Antiquary, Scientist, Historian, Bailiff, Lecturer, Author, Freemason and Reformist; Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, Member of The Corporation of Godmanchester, Master Freemason, Collector and Coin-collector; of 51 Post Street, Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire. In 1841 he founded The Literary and Scientific Institution at Huntingdon.

Background

He was the 11th and 5th surviving son of John Fox, Cabinet Maker of Huntingdon, by his second wife, Frances Maples. He was baptised on 5 June 1798 at St Mary & St Benedict's Church, Huntingdon.

Education

"He studied under Abernethy. He was probably apprenticed to a surgeon in London, and certainly attended demonstrations at the Anatomy Theatre at St Thomas' Hospital."

Career

"On 5 March 1819 he was admitted to the Royal College of Surgeons, the same year he purchased a surgeon's business. He moved to Godmanchester in 1825. He was visiting patients in the cholera epidemic of 1832.

"He was a close friend of Thomas Inskip of Shefford, a fellow collector of Roman relics who was also a patron of the poet Robert Bloomfield and a follower of Lord Byron whilst being active in Whig politics. As Fox began to move in elevated circles he became friendly with Dr John Lee, a substantial antiquary, and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Lecturer and Reformist

"He was an able lecturer in antiquities, geology, natural history and philosophy. He became heavily involved in the political reform movement, writing to the press and petitioning parliament for reform.

"In 1825 he was elected a Bailiff in Godmanchester, and discovered a large collection of Medieval records in a room above the Church porch in the town."

The History of Godmanchester

"This tradesman's son must have had a good grasp of medieval Latin shorthand. In 1831 he published 'The History of Godmanchester in the County of Huntingdon' (London) which is notable for its high quality as it was based on documentary evidence rather than myth, as was quite common at the time. The volume includes tracings he made of the Godmanchester entry in the original Domesday Book."

Collector

"Whilst he remained an active surgeon, he amassed a collection of over 400 Roman coins, buying from dealers as well as accepting local finds. His favourite coin was a 'found' when the foundations of the County Jail were dug in 1829. He also collected Egyptian objects. He was a member of the Numismatic Society. His coin collection is now in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology."

Freemason

"During the 1830s he was repeatedly elected Master of the Socrates Lodge of Freemasons, and remained active in the community despite ill health."

Marriages and family

In 1821 he married 1ly Jane Ashton, daughter of Jane and Edward Ashton, of Old Weston, Huntingdon, with issue five children. In 1818 her younger sister Elizabeth had married his elder brother, George Morris Fox. She died in 1831.

In 1832 he married 2ly Anne Taylor, only daughter of Catherine Spencer and Richard Taylor. In 1829 her elder brother, Rev Richard Taylor, had married his younger sister, Mary Caroline Fox. They had issue one daughter, Anne Taylor Fox.

1841 British Census: 51 Post Street, Godmanchester, Huntingdonshire; Robert Fox, 40; Anne, 30; Conrad, 14; Jane, 11; Anne, 2; [his wife's aunt] Elizabeth Wigg, 65; James Coveney, 15; Butler Watts, 20; Mary Stratton, 20; Naomi Martin, 15.

Death and burial

He died on 7 June 1843 at his residence, 51 Post Street, of dropsy, aged 45. He was buried on 11 June 1843 in St Mary's Church, Godmanchester. His widow died in 1877.

Legacy

"We are grateful to archivist Phillip Saunders for bringing to our notice this outstanding character. Saunders' interest in Robert Fox was stirred when asked to revise his entry in the Oxford University Press Dictionary of Biography. It is only when we consider what he managed to fit into his relatively short life, do we understand why he merits a mention in the Dictionary.

"A life-size portrait of him, painted by his sister, Frances Fox Negus, was inherited by his grandson, Walter Gordon Fox."

Sources

Robert Fox, A Huntingdon Scientist, a talk given by Phillip Saunders, Archivist, on Friday 13 Feb 2004 to the Cottenham Village Society at Cottenham Primary School; transcribed by Liz Milway, Committee Member.

Wikipedia, Robert Fox, Antiquarian: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Fox_(antiquarian).

Obit Jun 1843, UK.

'Recollections of Rev Richard Taylor' and genealogical notebooks, compiled by (his great-grandson) Cranleigh Harper Barton BEM, which form part of the Cranleigh Barton Bequest, Whanganui Regional Museum, New Zealand (1975).

1841 British Census, Family Search: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M77L-ZKD.

1843 Burial, Family Search: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:WM6Q-RLN2.