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Views "Staffordshire House"(2003) Charles St., Launceston (Classified N.T.) "Clarendon" Evandale (front & side view). Photo of cobbled lane to No.1.St.John's Alley, Devizes. Door to No.1 in lower right hand corner. Wm.Cox home with top floor - residence in cobbled alley..1995.
These following six pages are presented especially for my seven dear grandchilren, Alexander, Joel, Lawrence, Genevieve, Samuel, Zachary and Chloe, who will one day (hopefully), have an interest in their ancestors. These pages are unable to do justice to such a wonderful story. N.B. This is only a fleeting glimpse into the data I have in my files and is just meant to give you a taste of the life of James Cox and Mary Connell, James and Eliza Cox and the families that followed. I would love to share with any reader who has a direct line to any of these many families.
JAMES COX born 1.11.1790 at Devizes Wiltshire, U.K. was son of WILLIAM COX (2) & REBECCA UPJOHN. The first we hear about James Cox, was the time of his birth. His father William Cox had joined Wiltshire Militia and was living with wife Rebecca at No.1 St.John's Alley in Devizes. William & Rebecca married in January 1789 at Devizes (it is thought). This little alley in the old Mediaeval Town,was a most fascinating place, as we found during our visit in 1995.
DEVIZES is recorded as having a market in 1228. There was a Market Cross in the town and merchants were busy around 1295, as they had two representatives in the parliament of Edward 1st. The old stone buildings, church, pubs and government stand solid around the town square, as we enter the little 'Alley', signposted on the end wall of the buildings. The very narrow lane, for walkers only, was lined with diminutive semi-detached black & white houses.
As Lorna Haycock states in her publication 'Devizes' c.1993... "This is a street of recently restored sixteenth and seventeenth century timber-framed houses with brick and plaster infilling and jettied first floors with curved beam ends. The oak timber came from nearby Melksham Forest and was fixed with wooden pegs not nails. The first on the left has a long history as an Inn.....the house at the end of the alley (which has No.1 on the door) has been tree ring dated to 1646 and evidently was the home and workplace of a substantial merchant" end quote.
The delightful cobbled lane, with overhanging oak beams, has been closed off at the far end where No.1 is situated today. The heart skipped a beat, as we gazed upon this quaint little alley and witnessed a little of a 'time past'. However, the two storied, semi-detached home for William, Rebecca and their 6 young offspring, would have been a trial indeed.
WILLIAM COX (2) was b.1764 to Robert Cox (1730-1765) Master Mariner & wife Jenny Harvey who owned vessels, operating from Poole, Dorset. Robert's parents also owned ships out of Poole about 5 miles from Wimborne, Dorset. We believe Robert's parents were William & Elizabeth ?, while Jenny's father was Robert Holloway Harvey.
The birthplace of William Cox (2) was one of the oldest and charming little cottages, directly opposite the Wimborne Minster Church, which is still occupied today. William Cox attended "Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School", situated just around the corner from his home. These dates confirm that William Cox (2) who came to Australia, never knew his father Robert Cox as he was LOST AT SEA 18764/65. However, there are beautiful paintings of his mother Jenny (Jane) and his grandfather William Cox b.1695 in Dorset. They are hanging in the drawing room at Clarendon in Tasmania. They are on permanent loan ? to Clarendon by Mr.Tim.B.Cox of Melbourne.
JAMES COX'S mother was REBECCA UPJOHN b.9.9.1762 at Martin's-le-grand, London to JAMES UPJOHN b.1722 at Shaftsbury, Dorset, where his father also lived. There were generations of clock and watch makers. James was a watchmaker and dealer of Red Lion Street, London. He married 1.1.1745 London to MARY GARLE, Rebecca being the 9th of 10 children. We are extemely grateful for access to publication "A Study in Ancestry" by Richard Upjohn Light c.1990 covering Upjohn family for 450 years. Appreciation also to Barry Cox, Melbourne, who has spent many years researching all Cox family which blends with my years of extensive research....
After William Cox joined N.S.W. Corps on 8.7.1795, he sailed for Australia in 1797on a convict vessel. He was Lieutenant Wm.Cox , N.S.W. Corps 28.9.1797 and promoted to Captain, Paymaster on 28.9.1798. He was Captain William COX in charge of Irish rebels, as well as his detachment of the N.S.W. Corps, when he sailed out of Cork Harbour on vessel "Minereva" with his wife Rebecca and four of their six sons. The family arrived at Old Sydney Town on 11.1.1800 with these four sons and the little boy Francis Edmund COX, who was born at Cork Harbour. This vessel of Irish convicts was delayed for many months in Cork Harbour. Sadly little Francis, born at Cork, died at Sydney Town aged 10 months. William Cox resigned his Commission with N.S.W. Corps on 14.4.1808, after his earlier return from England.
At this time the family was separated and young JAMES COX along with his elder brother William Cox Jun., stayed in England to complete their education at King Edward's Grammar School in Salisbury, Wiltshire. They spent the summer holidays with the DAWES family and would have lived in the vicinity of the majestic Salisbury Cathedral......
Thanks to Barry Cox of Melbourne for some well researched data on the Cox family. We also acknowledge the "The Minerva Journal of John Washington Price" edited by Pamela Jeanne Fulton.
LIFE IS FULL OF GATEWAYS, A PLACE TO TAKE THE VIEW; TO JOURNEY FROM OUR LOVED ONES AND FACE THE ROAD ANEW.
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Thelma & Matthew at mrbirrell@virginbroadband.com.au |
