Alfred W Cox
Encyclopedia
Alfred William Cox was a racehorse owner and breeder.
He was the son of a wealthy Scottish cotton broker, Alexander Robb Cox, and Margaret Lockhart Greenshields. His father Alexander was a director and partner in the firm of Cox, McEuon which dealt in jute, flax and hemp. The family bought the Hafod Elwy Estate in North Wales in 1864 for a holiday home and the estate remained in the possession of the family until 1987.
About 1877 when Alfie failed to pass in to The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich he was sent off to Australia
where he tried his hand at farming. In 1881 he visited his uncle Henry Cox in Birkenhead. He was considered to be quite a determined person.
In 1884, Alfie obtained a share in a mine at Broken Hill playing cards with George McCulloch
. Following the discovery of silver he became a wealthy man and returned to London, where he indulged his love of horse racing as an owner and breeder, running his horses under the pseudonym of Mr Fairie.
His horses, including Bramble, Peterhof, Lemberg
, Bayardo
and Gay Crusader
, were listed as starters in many races between 1887 and his death in 1919.
Alfie did not marry and upon his death his fortune, consisting of money and his stables of racehorses, passed to his younger brother Alexander Robb Cox.
Alfie's youngest brother Lieutenant Ernest Cox entered the army at the age of 23 in 1891 and joined the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders
. He died on 11 December 1899 at the Battle of Magersfontein
during the Second Boer War
. In 1898 Ernest had served in the Khartum expedition of the Sudan Campaign as extra Aide-de-Camp to General William Forbes Gatacre
commanding the British Division.
He was the son of a wealthy Scottish cotton broker, Alexander Robb Cox, and Margaret Lockhart Greenshields. His father Alexander was a director and partner in the firm of Cox, McEuon which dealt in jute, flax and hemp. The family bought the Hafod Elwy Estate in North Wales in 1864 for a holiday home and the estate remained in the possession of the family until 1987.
About 1877 when Alfie failed to pass in to The Royal Military Academy, Woolwich he was sent off to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
where he tried his hand at farming. In 1881 he visited his uncle Henry Cox in Birkenhead. He was considered to be quite a determined person.
In 1884, Alfie obtained a share in a mine at Broken Hill playing cards with George McCulloch
George McCulloch (mine owner)
George McCulloch was the mastermind behind the formation of the Broken Hill Mining Company, a precursor of BHP Billiton.George's father died when he was one year old...
. Following the discovery of silver he became a wealthy man and returned to London, where he indulged his love of horse racing as an owner and breeder, running his horses under the pseudonym of Mr Fairie.
His horses, including Bramble, Peterhof, Lemberg
Lemberg (horse)
Lemberg was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He won seventeen times in a career that lasted from 1909 until 1911, taking major races at two, three and four years of age. Lemberg won his most important victory as a three-year-old in 1910 when he won the Epsom Derby...
, Bayardo
Bayardo (horse)
Bayardo was a British bred Thoroughbred racehorse with an impressive record, both on the racecourse and at stud, where he was a leading sire.-Pedigree:...
and Gay Crusader
Gay Crusader
Gay Crusader was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won the English Triple Crown in 1917.Owner/breeder Alfred W Cox mated his horse Bayardo with the mare Gay Laura to produce the ill-tempered colt Gay Crusader...
, were listed as starters in many races between 1887 and his death in 1919.
Alfie did not marry and upon his death his fortune, consisting of money and his stables of racehorses, passed to his younger brother Alexander Robb Cox.
Alfie's youngest brother Lieutenant Ernest Cox entered the army at the age of 23 in 1891 and joined the 72nd Seaforth Highlanders
Seaforth Highlanders
The Seaforth Highlanders was a historic regiment of the British Army associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The Seaforth Highlanders have varied in size from two battalions to seventeen battalions during the Great War...
. He died on 11 December 1899 at the Battle of Magersfontein
Battle of Magersfontein
The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein near Kimberley on the borders of the Cape Colony and the independent republic of the Orange Free State...
during the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
. In 1898 Ernest had served in the Khartum expedition of the Sudan Campaign as extra Aide-de-Camp to General William Forbes Gatacre
William Forbes Gatacre
Lieutenant General Sir William Forbes Gatacre KCB, DSO was a British soldier, born near Stirling, and educated at Royal Military College Sandhurst. He entered the army in 1862 and retired in 1904, after serving in various conflicts....
commanding the British Division.