Captain William Cox (1764-1837) |
Captain William Cox
Noted events in his life were: • source. Mary-Ann Cook • fact. Son of Robert Cox, was born at Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, on 19 December 1764. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School at Wimborne Minster, and afterwards went to live at Devizes. He was a landowner, served in the Wilts militia, and in July 1795 joined the regular army as an ensign. He became a lieutenant in February 1797, and in September 1798 was appointed paymaster at Cork. He was given the same position when he joined the New South Wales Corps and sailed for Sydney on 24 August 1799 on the transport Minerva, on which were about 160 convicts including General Holt and the Rev. H. Fulton, both of whom, and indeed many of the other convicts, were really political prisoners. Cox used his influence so that the prisoners were frequently allowed up on deck to get fresh air, and Holt in his memoirs states that in consequence "the ship was the healthiest and best regulated which had ever reached the colony". It arrived in Sydney harbour on 11 January 1800. Almost immediately Cox bought a farm of 100 acres and installed Holt as its manager. Gradually considerable amounts of land were added, but Cox had incurred large liabilities and in 1803 his estate was placed in the hands of trustees. He had much money owing to him and though Cox believed that his assets were worth considerably more than the amount of his liabilities, his accounts as paymaster were involved, and he was suspended from office. In 1807 he was ordered to go to England. He evidently succeeded in clearing himself as he was promoted captain in 1808 (Aust. Ency.), in 1811 was again in New South Wales and principal magistrate at the Hawkesbury. William married Rebecca Upjohn on 1 Feb 1789. (Rebecca Upjohn was born on 9 Sep 1762 in St Martins-Le Grand, London England and died on 5 Mar 1819 in "Clarendon", Windsor, NSW Australia.) |
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