Trenchard Cox
Encyclopedia
Sir Trenchard Cox CBE, MA, FSA, FMA (1905–1995) was a British museum director.

Early years

Born on 31 July 1905 in London to barrister William Pallett Cox and his wife Marion. Cox was eduated at Eton College and then at King's College Cambridge where he took a first class degree in modern languages tripos. Away from studying languages he was encouraged by family friend Cecil Harcourt-Smith, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...

 1859–1944 to develop an interest in the arts. This was inspired further by Sydney Cockerell
Sydney Cockerell
Sir Sydney Carlyle Cockerell was an English museum curator and collector.-Life:Sydney Cockerell made his way initially as clerk in the family coal business, George J. Cockerell & Co, until he met John Ruskin. According to John Ruskin by Tim Hilton , around 1887 Cockerell sent Ruskin some sea...

, director of the Fitzwilliam Museum
Fitzwilliam Museum
The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge, England. It receives around 300,000 visitors annually. Admission is free....

, Cambridge 1908-1937, to pursue a career in museums.

He started work as a volunteer at the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...

, London and then in the department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

. During this time he spent a semester at Berlin University studying Art History. He spent a short time at the Sorbonne which led to him writing a study of the French Renaissance painter Jehan Foucquet
Jean Fouquet
Jean Fouquet was a preeminent French painter of the 15th century, a master of both panel painting and manuscript illumination, and the apparent inventor of the portrait miniature. He was the first French artist to travel to Italy and experience at first hand the Italian Early...

 in 1931. In 1932 Cox became assistant to the Director, Sir James Mann, at the Wallace Collection. During this time he developed a keen interest in the decorative arts of eighteenth-century France and went on to contribute to the catalogue of the exhibition of French Art at Burlington House.

In 1935 he married Maisie Anderson. In the summer of 1939, with Mann abroad, Cox was charged with organising the Wallace Collection's evacuation from London. After this time he became private secretary to Sir Alexander Maxwell, the permanent under-secretary at the Home Office.

Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery

In 1944 Cox's skills as an administrator saw him take up the post of Director of the City of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. He restored the museum buildings back to the original function, after they had been used as council offices for 5 years during the war, managing to refurbish and restore them on a tight budget. With the help of the Keeper of the Department of Art, Dr Mary Woodall, he established excellent relations with the Birmingham City corporation and established the museum as a leading institution. Cox is well known for the care and support he gave to museum staff, always remembering to send a note of congratulation to those responsible for a new exhibition or display. In 1947 he published a book on David Cox
David Cox (artist)
- David Cox Junior :David Cox had a son of the same name who followed his calling as a watercolour painter. He was born in Dulwich, but educated in Hereford. He exhibited in London from 1827, although today he is known mainly through association with his father. He died in Streatham on 4 December...

, Birmingham's most famous landscape painter. In 1954 he was awarded a CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...


Victoria and Albert Museum

In 1955 he was offered the post of Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...

 by David Eccles
David Eccles, 1st Viscount Eccles
David McAdam Eccles, 1st Baron Eccles and 1st Viscount Eccles, CH, KCVO, MP, PC was an English Conservative politician....

, Minister of Eductation. He is known to have learnt the names of all of the museum's several hundred staff within three weeks of starting the job and greeted everyone thereafter by name. He is also responsible for introducing the conservation and education departments to the museum and reorganised and extended the National Art Library
National Art Library
The National Art Library is a major reference library, situated in Kensington, West london. It is freely accessible to the public Tuesday-Saturdays, and specialises in material about the fine and decorative arts of many countries and periods. It also contains substantial sources for information...

. He acquired important objects such as the jade wine cup of the Shah Jahan and created a high standard of exhibitions, notably 'Opus Anglicanum' in 1963 and `The Orange and the Rose' in 1964. In 1966 he retired early due to failing eyesight.

Other Offices

He was knighted in 1961. In 1963 he became president of the Museums Association
Museums Association
The Museums Association is a professional organisation based in London for museum professionals and museums in the United Kingdom.The association is the oldest museum association in the world and was started in 1889 by a small group of museums to protect the interests of museums and galleries...

, he was member of the Ancient Monuments Board
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 for England 1959-69 and the Standing Commission on Museums and Galleries 1967-77 and appointed Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...

 in 1967. Continuing his interest in popular education, he was the founding president in 1968 of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies (NADFAS), and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...

 and of the Society of Antiquities. From 1968 to 1979 he served as Peoples' Warden at St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. Its patron is Saint Martin of Tours.-Roman era:Excavations at the site in 2006 led to the discovery of a grave dated about 410...

, where he was a strong supporter its social welfare activities. He died on 21 December 1995.
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