Joseph Fox the younger
Encyclopedia
Joseph 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

William Munk
William Munk
William Munk was an English physician, now remembered for his work as a medical historian and "Munk's Roll", a biographical reference work on the Royal College of Physicians.-Life:...

's "Roll of the Royal College of Physicians" tells us that this second Joseph, after practicing in Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

 for some years as an apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....

, "acquired by marriage and his profession a small independence" and decided to try his fortune in London as a physician. He studied at Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 and in 1783 graduated M.D. at St. Andrews. Settling in London, he was admitted L.R.C.P. in 1788, and in 1789 was elected physician to the London Hospital
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital was founded in September 1740 and was originally named The London Infirmary. The name changed to The London Hospital in 1748 and then to The Royal London Hospital on its 250th anniversary in 1990. The first patients were treated at a house in Featherstone Street,...

. In 1792 the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh
The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh was established in the 17th century. While the RCPE is based in Edinburgh, it is by no means just a Scottish professional body - more than half of its 7,700 Fellows, Members, Associates and Affiliates live and practice medicine outside Scotland, in 86...

 made him a fellow.

When he settled among them, London Friends were helpful, and it was through the influence of Thomas Smith (Banker, of Lombard street, London
Lombard Street, London
Lombard Street is a street in the City of London.It runs from the corner of the Bank of England at its north-west end, where it meets a major junction including Poultry, King William Street, and Threadneedle Street, south-east to Gracechurch Street....

 – a relative through the Tregelles family (See also Edwin Octavius Tregelles
Edwin Octavius Tregelles
Edwin Octavius Tregelles , ironmaster, civil engineer and Quaker minister.-Family life:He was the youngest of the seventeen children of Samuel Tregelles and his wife, Rebecca Smith of Falmouth, Cornwall, United KingdomHe married Jenepher Fisher , a Quaker from County Cork, on 3 July 1832...

), and other wealthy men, that he became Physician to the London Hospital
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital was founded in September 1740 and was originally named The London Infirmary. The name changed to The London Hospital in 1748 and then to The Royal London Hospital on its 250th anniversary in 1990. The first patients were treated at a house in Featherstone Street,...

. "He set up his carriage on 600 pounds a year."

In 1800 he was compelled by his increasing private engagements (???) to resign his office at the London Hospital
Royal London Hospital
The Royal London Hospital was founded in September 1740 and was originally named The London Infirmary. The name changed to The London Hospital in 1748 and then to The Royal London Hospital on its 250th anniversary in 1990. The first patients were treated at a house in Featherstone Street,...

 and, having by that time accumulated a fortune fully adequate to he supply of all his wants, he soon afterwards quit London.

He had conceived, and partly compiled, "A New Medical Dictionary Containing a Concise Explanation of all the Terms Used in Medicine, Surgery, Pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...

, Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

, Natural History
Natural History
Natural history is the scientific study of plants or animals.Natural History may also refer to:In science and medicine:* Natural History , Naturalis Historia, a 1st-century work by Pliny the Elder...

, and Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

" and the publishers, who had the manuscript, arranged for its revision and completion by Thomas Bradley
Thomas Bradley (physician)
Thomas Bradley, M.D. , was an English physician.Bradley was a native of Worcester, where for some time he conducted a school in which mathematics formed a prominent study. About 1786 he withdrew from education, and, devoting himself to medical studies, went to Edinburgh, where he graduated M.D...

, physician to the Westminster Hospital and long editor of the Medical and Physical Journal. This workmanlike little book appeared in 1803, and in 1804

In retirement, he lived first in his cottage at Mylor, across the water from Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

.
"But there he was soon found out and drawn into practice, working very hard as a country doctor

George Alexander Fox (1876–1965) recalled that this Joseph (his great-uncle) carried in a waistcoat pocket little slips of paper on which were written the symptoms of certain diseases, with which to refresh his memory as he rode to his patients.

His last years were spent in 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...

.

Smallpox

The young Joseph worked first at the London Hospital, and during that time became friends with another doctor, Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner
Edward Anthony Jenner was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire...

 who was working at St. George's Hospital. The dread disease of that Century was smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

, and a number of doctors were trying to discover a cure. Many had realized that dairymaid
Milkmaid
A milkmaid is a girl or woman employed to milk dairy cows. She also used the milk to prepare dairy products such as cream, butter, and cheese...

s who had contracted cowpox
Cowpox
Cowpox is a skin disease caused by a virus known as the Cowpox virus. The pox is related to the vaccinia virus and got its name from the distribution of the disease when dairymaids touched the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by...

 were immune from the smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

, and considered that if a method of inoculating cowpox
Cowpox
Cowpox is a skin disease caused by a virus known as the Cowpox virus. The pox is related to the vaccinia virus and got its name from the distribution of the disease when dairymaids touched the udders of infected cows. The ailment manifests itself in the form of red blisters and is transmitted by...

 could be found, this might be the answer. Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner
Edward Anthony Jenner was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire...

 left London and returned to his home at Berkeley
Berkeley, Gloucestershire
Berkeley is a town and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway within the Stroud administrative district. The town is noted for Berkeley Castle where the imprisoned Edward II was murdered.- Geography...

 in Gloucestershire. In 1796 he wrote a paper on the subject after success when inoculating a young boy in his village. His method became generally accepted in the following century.

Joseph Fox informed his cousin, Thomas Fox, (1747–1821) about these developments. We are told by Hubert Fox of a letter ca 1798 saying that "Joseph Fox, now Physician at the London Hospital was a friend and fellow worker with the great Doctor Jenner; through this connection Thomas had many of the children in his factory treated" by inoculation against smallpox. Thomas owned woolen cloth mills at 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...

 in Somerset.

Joseph left London and returned to his home in Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

 where he practiced medicine. He was Doctor to a merchant ship's Captain, Christopher Buckingham, and to his wife, Thorazine, who lived in Flushing
Flushing, Cornwall
Flushing is a coastal village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles south of Penryn and eleven miles south-east of Truro. It faces Falmouth across the Penryn river, an arm of the Carrick Roads...

. He brought all their children into the world, and one of them later wrote that at the age of six he was sent to Trevissome Farm "to be' inoculated for the small-pox". If he is correct this would be 1792. He continues the operation was performed by a worthy Quaker, Dr Fox of Falmouth, and I was for the puncture
Wound
A wound is a type of injury in which skin is torn, cut or punctured , or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion . In pathology, it specifically refers to a sharp injury which damages the dermis of the skin.-Open:...

, which was so suddenly and unexpectedly made that I was saved all the pain of apprehension which is generally greater than that of the wound itself."

In 1798 Captain Yescombe of the Packet Service advertised Wood cottage at Greatwood for sale, a property which lay near the ferry crossing at Mylor Creek
Mylor Creek
Mylor Creek is a tidal ria in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a tributary of Carrick Roads, the estuary of the River Fal and is situated approximately six miles south of Truro and two miles north of Falmouth....

. Joseph purchased the house, living there for many years possibly until his death.."

Why Joseph became a Catholic

"From the Devonshire House monthly meeting minutes Joseph’s wife Eizabeth Peeters had transferred her Friends' Membership from London to 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...

 but there was no mention of Joseph, although he appeared in these minutes in the early 1790's.
In autumn 1798, Joseph asked to be disowned by the Society of Friends when he "acknowledged his being convicted in his own mind of the inconsistency of his conduct with the religious principles" and denounced his moral conduct in being the father of an illegitimate child.

Family

Joseph (Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

, Cornwall, 13 Jul 1758 – 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...

, 25 Feb 1832, buried Charles Church Yard, Plymouth) was the son of 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....

 (1729–1785) and Elisabeth Hingston (1733–1792)
In 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...

 he married 1780 his 2nd cousin Elisabeth Peters (St. Denis, 5 Dec 1751 – Mylor, 1830). They share the same ggparents Philipp Debell (1657-?) and Ann Soady (?-1742)

Joseph Fox had 4 children
1- Emily (aft Mar 1792 – Newton Abbott, South Devon, 8 Mar 1866) married Philipp Sleeman (1791/2-31 Mar 1869), brother of Maj General William Henry Sleeman
William Henry Sleeman
Sir William Henry Sleeman was a British soldier and administrator in India.A great admirer of India's rich natural beauty, he was born in Stratton, Cornwall, the son of Philip Sleeman, a yeoman and supervisor of excise of St Tudy...

, Governor of Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

 , who joined the Indian Army in 1809 and wrote the History of the Thugs
Thuggee
Thuggee is the term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers in South Asia and particularly in India.They are sometimes called Phansigar i.e...

 (hired gangs of murderers). Dsp.

2- Mary James (Abt 1796 – London, 27 Mar 1866) who married abt 1825 Robert Deeble Mitchel, MD (Redruth
Redruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...

, Cornwall, ca 1794 – Boulogne sur Mer, Fr
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....

, 2 Nov 1843), issue.

3- Sophia James (1798 – London, 10 Dec 1875) who died unmarried

4- Charles James
Dr Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox -Life:Illegitimate son of Joseph FoxThrough family circumstances Dr. Ch.J...

 (Londen, 25 Jan 1799 – London, 12 May 1874 married Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....

 12 Aug 1828, Anne Mary Guion (London, 4 Nov 1798 – London, 12 Mar 1876), daughter of Capt. RN Gardiner Henry Guion
Gardiner Henry Guion
Captain Gardiner Henry Guion Gardiner Henry Guion was the son of Daniel Guion , a [] and Merchant who had lived for some years in 34 Crutched Ffriars opposite to the Office of the Royal Navy and Ann , who would be Matron of the Royal London Hospital 1790-1797, and brother of Daniel Oliver Guion,...

 and Polini Bonaparte
Bonaparte
The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded by Napoleon I of France in 1804, a French military leader who rose to notability out of the French Revolution and transformed the French Republic into the First French Empire within five years of his coup d'état...

 from Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

. (Issue in Canada and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

)

Joseph was witness to the marriage of his son Charles James on 12 Aug 1828

The mother of Joseph's children is unknown.
Emily could be the daughter of Elisabeth Peeters, the others could be children of a daughter or a sister of Richard James.
Emily was brought up as a Quaker became protestant and afterwards joined the sect of Lady Huntingdon
The other three were sent to France and brought up as catholics by "De Tremouille", a French lady.

In the "Revised genealogical account of the various families descended from Francis Fox of St. German's, Cornwall" privately printed London, 1872
Joseph and Elizabeth are mentioned on the chart and on the pages 12/13 (Fox of Falmouth
Fox family of Falmouth
The 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...

) and 19 (Debell of 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...

).
On pages 13 is stated that "there was not any issue of the marriage"

Data on Joseph Fox and his dealings with his lawyers in 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...

 can be found in the Bayly Bartlett papers.
Joseph Fox had real estate dealings in London in 1792 with a James family. Thomas Were (a Quaker) is also named in this agreement, regarding a property on the west side of Finsbury Place at the corner of Ropemaker's Street in the Parish of St Luke
St Luke's
St Luke's is an area in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London near the Barbican and Shoreditch. It takes its name from the church of St Luke's, on Old Street west of the tube station. The area extends north of the church to City Road and south to Finsbury Square and...

 in the County of Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

.
Joseph seemed to be taking long leases in this new property development real estate.
In 1832 Joseph also took a 99 year lease on a house at Number 1, The Bank (St) in Falmouth, Cornwall. This dwelling was part of the marriage settlement of Emily (Fox) Sleeman.
For one of the London properties, he commissioned a builder in October 1794, to build a house for him at the South West corner of South Street near Finsbury Square, to be completed by August 1795
This house may have been intended for his own use or may have been the residence of his natural (illegitimate) children and their mother.

Richard James, of Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....

 Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, died in 1799. He was a wine manufacturer in London.
There is an entry in the 1794 directory of London and Westminster and the borough of Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...

– James & Were – British Wine Manufacturers, Finsbury Place.
Richard had a daughter Elizabeth who was married to a William Reave by 1799.
His sons Joseph and Benjamin inherited his wine business and had real estate dealings (a quitclaim) with Joseph Fox of Plymouth Devon but late of Mark Lane London.
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