Francis Fox of St Germans
Encyclopedia
Francis Fox of St Germans was the progenitor of a vast clan of people called "Fox", notable in many fields of enterprise, science and the arts. He was an early convert to the Quaker faith, to which many of later generations were also true.
, in his History of the commoners , states "that the numerous families of Fox at present residing in the West of England sprang from one common ancestor, a Francis Fox, who married 1646, Dorothy Kekewich." Tradition represents him to have come from Wiltshire
(it is said from the parish of Farley or that of Pitton
), somewhere in 1645, during the commotions of the civil war
. He is stated to have been descended from the same family as the celebrated Sir Stephen Fox
, ancestor of the Earls of Ilchester and the Lords Holland. It is likewise handed down that he was one of seven or eight sons, and that others of the same family also came into Devon
shire and Cornwall
, settling at Plymouth
and Looe
, but left no sons who survived .
, a 16th-century manor house belonging to the Kekewiches. Catchfrench is about three miles (5 km) from St Germans, where Francis was a clothier
. It is about the same distance from Menheniot
, where George Fox
held his first Cornish meetings. George Fox brought the Quaker message to Cornwall in 1655 and it was then or a little later that Francis and his family joined the Society of Friends. His son, also Francis, married Tabitha Croker in 1686. They had three sons and four daughters.
Their progeny settled and were successful in business and the professions in Wadebridge
, Wellington
and Brislington
in Somerset
, Exeter
, Plymouth
and Kingsbridge
in Devon
.
Children of first marriage of George Fox of Par
to Mary Bealing
Edward Fox (born 1719) of Wadebridge, married Anna Were (1719–1788). They had nine children, including
Children of George Fox of Par's second marriage to Anna Debell
The Falmouth Foxes are descended from two grandsons of Francis and Tabitha Fox: George Croker Fox (1727/8-1781) and Joseph Fox
(1729–1784).. George's descendants became prosperous merchants and were influential in the development of education, the arts and sciences in the town. Two of their number wrote fascinating journals, during the 19th century which were published in the 1970s. Joseph and many of his descendants were physicians.
in Wellington which rapidly expanded and ran successfully, until it merged with Lloyds Bank
in 1921.
The sons who participated in the family business were Thomas (1786–1862), Edward (1789–1845), Sylvanus (1791–1851), Samuel (1794–1874), Henry (1800–1876), Charles (1801–1860) .
, Wellington, Somerset.
The mill is currently being converted into residential apartments. The brochure says:
"The 12.6 acre former woollen textile mill complex is a brownfield site featuring a range of Grade II and Grade II* listed buildings. Established in 1790 by the Fox family, Tonedale Mill was the largest integrated mill in the South West, producing woollen and worsted fabrics.
It became a site of national importance during the Boer War when the Tonedale dyers developed the ‘khaki’ dye - given the royal seal of approval by the then Prince of Wales in 1900 – which led to the end of British soldiers’ ‘redcoats’.
At its peak, Tonedale Mill employed some 4,500 people and exported fabrics around the world. It also provided livelihoods for other related trades on the site, including bookbinders, basket weavers, stonemasons and metalworkers. From the 1950s, manufacturing at Britain’s mills went into decline. The deafening noise of the powerlooms housed in Tonedale’s weaving sheds was heard no more once production on the site ceased by the end of the 1990s, although the firm of Fox Brothers and Company Ltd still exists and operates in a nearby location to this day. The history of the family was documented by Charles Henry Fox in Chronicles Of Tonedale: Two Centuries Of Family History (1879).
Origins
BurkeJohn Burke (genealogist)
John Burke was an Irish genealogist, and the original publisher of Burke's Peerage. He was the father of Sir Bernard Burke, a British officer of arms and genealogist....
, in his History of the commoners , states "that the numerous families of Fox at present residing in the West of England sprang from one common ancestor, a Francis Fox, who married 1646, Dorothy Kekewich." Tradition represents him to have come from Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
(it is said from the parish of Farley or that of Pitton
Pitton
Pitton is also the name of a small village in the Gower Peninsula, Wales.Pitton is a village located about east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, just off the A30 London Road. It has a primary school , a village shop and post office, a pub , a church, a park, a village hall and a small...
), somewhere in 1645, during the commotions of the civil war
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. He is stated to have been descended from the same family as the celebrated Sir Stephen Fox
Stephen Fox
Sir Stephen Fox was an English politician.-Life:Stephen Fox was the son of William Fox, of Farley, in Wiltshire, a yeoman farmer...
, ancestor of the Earls of Ilchester and the Lords Holland. It is likewise handed down that he was one of seven or eight sons, and that others of the same family also came into Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
shire and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, settling at Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
and Looe
Looe
Looe is a small coastal town, fishing port and civil parish in the former Caradon district of south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of 5,280 . Looe is divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe and West Looe being connected by a bridge...
, but left no sons who survived .
Settling down
After marrying in 1646 he lived at CatchfrenchCatchfrench
Catchfrench is a hamlet in Cornwall, England, UK. It is about two miles north of Hessenford....
, a 16th-century manor house belonging to the Kekewiches. Catchfrench is about three miles (5 km) from St Germans, where Francis was a clothier
Cloth merchant
Cloth merchant is, strictly speaking, like a draper, the term for any vendor of cloth. However, it is generally used for one who owned and/or ran a cloth manufacturing and/or wholesale import and/or export business in the Middle Ages or 16th and 17th centuries...
. It is about the same distance from Menheniot
Menheniot
Menheniot is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated 2½ miles southeast of Liskeard. The meaning of the name is "sanctuary of Neot" ....
, where George Fox
George Fox
George Fox was an English Dissenter and a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends.The son of a Leicestershire weaver, Fox lived in a time of great social upheaval and war...
held his first Cornish meetings. George Fox brought the Quaker message to Cornwall in 1655 and it was then or a little later that Francis and his family joined the Society of Friends. His son, also Francis, married Tabitha Croker in 1686. They had three sons and four daughters.
Their progeny settled and were successful in business and the professions in Wadebridge
Wadebridge
Wadebridge is a civil parish and town in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel five miles upstream from Padstow....
, Wellington
Wellington, Somerset
Wellington is a small industrial town in rural Somerset, England, situated south west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town...
and Brislington
Brislington
Brislington is an area in the south east of the city of Bristol, England. It is on the edge of Bristol and from Bath. The Brislington Brook runs through the area in the woodlands of Nightingale Valley...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
and Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge
Kingsbridge is a market town and popular tourist hub in the South Hams district of Devon, England, with a population of about 5,800. It is situated at the northern end of the Kingsbridge Estuary, which is a textbook example of a ria and extends to the sea six miles south of the town.-History:The...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
.
Children of first marriage of George Fox of Par
Par, Cornwall
Par is a town and fishing port with a harbour on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated in the civil parish of Tywardreath and Par and is approximately east of St Austell. Par has a population of around 1,400.....
to Mary Bealing
Edward Fox (born 1719) of Wadebridge, married Anna Were (1719–1788). They had nine children, including
- George Fox (July 11, 1746 - June 22, 1816) of PerranarworthalPerranarworthalPerranarworthal is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately four miles northwest of Falmouth and five miles southwest of Truro....
near Falmouth, Cornwall, merchant - Thomas Fox (January 17, 1747/8 - April 29, 1821) of Wellington, Somerset (woollen manufacturer and banker) See below.
- Edward Fox (December 13, 1749-April 8, 1817) of Wadebridge, Merchant .
- Robert Were Fox (1758–1872) of Wadebridge (not to be confused with his son, Robert Were Fox (1792–1872) or his cousin or cousin's son, both also called "Robert Were Fox").
Children of George Fox of Par's second marriage to Anna Debell
- George Croker Fox the First (1727/8-1781) See Fox family of FalmouthFox family of FalmouthThe Fox family of Falmouth, Cornwall, UK were very influential in the development of the town of Falmouth in the 19th century and of the Cornish Industrial Revolution...
. - Joseph FoxJoseph Fox the elderJoseph Fox Having taken to Medicine rather than business, Joseph and his descendants were less prosperous, had less leisure, and are not included in Carlyle's eulogy....
(1729–1784) See Fox family of FalmouthFox family of FalmouthThe Fox family of Falmouth, Cornwall, UK were very influential in the development of the town of Falmouth in the 19th century and of the Cornish Industrial Revolution...
.
The Falmouth Foxes
-
- Main article Fox family of FalmouthFox family of FalmouthThe Fox family of Falmouth, Cornwall, UK were very influential in the development of the town of Falmouth in the 19th century and of the Cornish Industrial Revolution...
- Main article Fox family of Falmouth
The Falmouth Foxes are descended from two grandsons of Francis and Tabitha Fox: George Croker Fox (1727/8-1781) and Joseph Fox
Joseph Fox the elder
Joseph Fox Having taken to Medicine rather than business, Joseph and his descendants were less prosperous, had less leisure, and are not included in Carlyle's eulogy....
(1729–1784).. George's descendants became prosperous merchants and were influential in the development of education, the arts and sciences in the town. Two of their number wrote fascinating journals, during the 19th century which were published in the 1970s. Joseph and many of his descendants were physicians.
Thomas Fox, homespun Quaker
The Wellington Fox family is descended from Francis Fox by way of Edward Fox of Wadebridge. He was married to Anna Were, whose family had long been established as textile manufacturers in Wellington in the county of Somerset. Their son, Thomas (17 January 1747–29 April 1821) became a partner in the firm and married Sarah Smith, the daughter of Thomas Smith, a London banker. They had 15 children, of whom seven sons and three daughters survived to adulthood. Thomas Fox started a bankFox, Fowler and Company
Fox, Fowler, and Company was a British private bank, based in Wellington, Somerset. The company was founded in 1787 as a supplementary business to the main activities of the Fox family, sheep-herding and wool-making.-Banknote issue:...
in Wellington which rapidly expanded and ran successfully, until it merged with Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...
in 1921.
The sons who participated in the family business were Thomas (1786–1862), Edward (1789–1845), Sylvanus (1791–1851), Samuel (1794–1874), Henry (1800–1876), Charles (1801–1860) .
The House and the Mill
The Wellington Foxes built a large textile mill and a grand house at TonedaleTone Dale House
Tone Dale House is an historic Grade II listed country house located in Wellington, Somerset, England. Wellington lies west of Taunton in the vale of Taunton Deane, one mile from the Devon border...
, Wellington, Somerset.
The mill is currently being converted into residential apartments. The brochure says:
"The 12.6 acre former woollen textile mill complex is a brownfield site featuring a range of Grade II and Grade II* listed buildings. Established in 1790 by the Fox family, Tonedale Mill was the largest integrated mill in the South West, producing woollen and worsted fabrics.
It became a site of national importance during the Boer War when the Tonedale dyers developed the ‘khaki’ dye - given the royal seal of approval by the then Prince of Wales in 1900 – which led to the end of British soldiers’ ‘redcoats’.
At its peak, Tonedale Mill employed some 4,500 people and exported fabrics around the world. It also provided livelihoods for other related trades on the site, including bookbinders, basket weavers, stonemasons and metalworkers. From the 1950s, manufacturing at Britain’s mills went into decline. The deafening noise of the powerlooms housed in Tonedale’s weaving sheds was heard no more once production on the site ceased by the end of the 1990s, although the firm of Fox Brothers and Company Ltd still exists and operates in a nearby location to this day. The history of the family was documented by Charles Henry Fox in Chronicles Of Tonedale: Two Centuries Of Family History (1879).
List of descendants
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- Andrew Ellicott (1733 – 1809)
- Andrew EllicottAndrew EllicottAndrew Ellicott was a U.S. surveyor who helped map many of the territories west of the Appalachians, surveyed the boundaries of the District of Columbia, continued and completed Pierre Charles L'Enfant's work on the plan for Washington, D.C., and served as a teacher in survey methods for...
- John Ellicott (1739 – 1794)
- Joseph EllicottJoseph EllicottJoseph Ellicott was an American surveyor, city planner, land office agent, lawyer and politician of the Quaker faith.-Life:He was the son of Joseph Ellicott ....
- Joseph Ellicott (1732 – 1780)
- Harriet FindlayHarriet FindlayDame Harriet Jane Backhouse Findlay, DBE was the daughter of Sir Jonathan Edmund Backhouse, 1st Bt. and Florence Trelawny...
- Sir Edmund Findlay, 2nd BaronetSir Edmund Findlay, 2nd BaronetSir Edmund Findlay, 2nd Baronet was a Scottish politician and baronet.The eldest son of Sir John Ritchie Findlay, 1st Baronet, and Dame Harriet Findlay , he was educated at Harrow and at Balliol College, Oxford.He was Unionist Member of Parliament for Banffshire from 1935-1945.Like his father...
- Fox family of FalmouthFox family of FalmouthThe Fox family of Falmouth, Cornwall, UK were very influential in the development of the town of Falmouth in the 19th century and of the Cornish Industrial Revolution...
- Alfred FoxAlfred FoxAlfred Fox, of Falmouth, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, was owner and developer of Glendurgan Garden, now a National Trust property. He was a member of the Quaker Fox family of Falmouth.-Business interests:...
- Anna Maria FoxAnna Maria FoxAnna Maria Fox was a promoter of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society and the artistic and cultural development of Falmouth in Cornwall, UK.-Family links:...
- Barclay FoxBarclay FoxRobert Barclay Fox was a businessman, gardener and diarist, a member of the influential Quaker Fox family of Falmouth.-Family relationships:...
- Caroline FoxCaroline FoxCaroline Fox was an English diarist. She was the daughter of Robert Were Fox FRS of the influential Fox family of Falmouth, and was the younger sister of both Barclay Fox, also a diarist, and Anna Maria Fox....
- Charles Fox (scientist)Charles Fox (scientist)Charles Fox , a Quaker scientist, developed Trebah Garden, near Mawnan Smith in Cornwall. He was a member of the influential Fox family of Falmouth....
- Dr Charles James FoxDr Charles James FoxCharles James Fox -Life:Illegitimate son of Joseph FoxThrough family circumstances Dr. Ch.J...
- Charles Masson FoxCharles Masson FoxCharles Masson Fox was a Cornish businessman who achieved international prominence in the world of chess problems and a place in the gay history of Edwardian England....
- Edward Long FoxEdward Long FoxEdward Long Fox was a British psychiatrist. He established an insane asylum at Brislington House, near Bristol, England, and classified the patients according to social class as well as behavioural presentation....
- Howard FoxHoward FoxHoward Fox was a shipping agent and played a large part in the economic and cultural development of the town of Falmouth, Cornwall. He was a member of the influential Fox family of Falmouth.-Business interests:...
- Joseph Fox the elderJoseph Fox the elderJoseph Fox Having taken to Medicine rather than business, Joseph and his descendants were less prosperous, had less leisure, and are not included in Carlyle's eulogy....
- Joseph Fox the youngerJoseph Fox the youngerJoseph Fox 1st Internist London Hospital. Born a Quaker, he became a catholic on what was supposed to be his deathbed and lived a year afterwards.-Life:...
- Josiah FoxJosiah FoxJosiah Fox was a Cornish naval architect noted for his involvement in the design and construction of the first significant warships of the United States Navy....
- Robert Barclay FoxRobert Barclay FoxRobert Barclay Fox was a Falmouth businessman and Conservative Party politician in Cornwall. He was known as Barclay Fox.-Birth and family background:R.B...
- Robert Were Fox the ElderRobert Were Fox the ElderRobert Were Fox was a Quaker businessman who lived in Falmouth.- Life and work :Fox was born in Fowey, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom, and married Elizabeth Tregelles in 1788. The couple had six sons, including Charles Fox of Trebah, Robert Were Fox FRS of Penjerrick Garden and Alfred Fox of...
- Robert Were Fox the YoungerRobert Were Fox the YoungerRobert Were Fox FRS was a British geologist, natural philosopher and inventor. He is known mainly for his work on the temperature of the earth and his construction of a compass to measure magnetic dip at sea....
- John Eliot GardinerJohn Eliot GardinerSir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...
- Edward Michael Gresford JonesEdward Michael Gresford JonesThe son of a Bishop, Edward Michael Gresford Jones KCVO, DD was enthroned as the 6th Bishop of St Albans on 28 September 1950, where he remained in office until 1970...
- Howard HodgkinHoward HodgkinSir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin CH, CBE is a British painter and printmaker. His work is most often associated with abstraction.-Early life:...
- Sir Alfred Pease, 2nd Baronet
- Jack Pease, 1st Baron Gainford
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- Joseph Pease, 3rd Baron GainfordJoseph Pease, 3rd Baron GainfordJoseph Edward Pease, 3rd Baron Gainford succeeded to the family honours upon the death of his father in .He is the eldest son of Joseph Pease, 2nd Baron Gainford and his wife Veronica Margaret Noble. He married 1953, Margaret Theophila Radcliffe Tyndale, daughter of Henry Edmund Guise Tyndale,...
- Francis Fox TuckettFrancis Fox TuckettFrancis Fox Tuckett FRGS was an English mountaineer. He was vice-president of the Alpine Club from 1866 to 1868, and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.-Life and family:...
Further reading
- Pamela Rosemary Richardson - The West Country Fox family : a study of provincial English Quakerism 1840-1920, 2007. - 2 v. : ill., map, ports. ; 30 cm., Thesis (PhD) - University of Exeter, 2007 - Locations: Library of the University of Exeter, The library at Friends House, London, the Courtney Library at the Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro, Cornwall.
Sources
- Revised genealogical account of the various families descended from Francis Fox of St. Germans, Cornwall, to which is appended a pedigree of the Crokers of Lineham, and many other families connected with them [compiled by Joseph Foster]. Published in London : Printed for the compiler by Head, Hale and Co, 1872. Description: 33 pages of approximately A4 size, Illustration of Coat of Arms, Genealogical Table. Note: Cornwall Public Library has three copies of this work. One [seen by editor] is a photocopy and contains interleaved handwritten text by Francis Fox (1918-1914) , son of Robert Were Fox (1792–1872), of Exeter, and Rachel Cookworthy Fox (Born Prideaux), giving details of his own family history.