CFHS code : PL131
Parish : St Paul
Inscription : In Memory of JOHN HENRY FOX beloved husband of SARAH ANN FOX d Jan 1935 age 88 also SARAH ANN FOX d 7 Apr 1950 age 96
Monument : Headstone/Kerb stones
Above information from Cambridge Family History Society Survey
Monument
This fallen headstone, located in the parish area of St Paul, is right behind the notice board opposite the Mackenzie Road entrance. The inscription of metal letters is good condition but the kerbs and corner posts have fallen. This area does not get regular cut back and the monument is not usually visible.
Inscription
In Loving Memory of JOHN HENRY FOX beloved husband of SARAH ANN FOX died 24th January 1935 age 88 years
“At Rest”
Also SARAH ANN FOX died 7th Apr 1950 age 96 years
John Henry Fox (c.1846 – 24 January 1935)
John was born in Norwich and was the son of John and Ann Fox. He was baptised in Norwich on 3 January 1847 and married Sarah Bowman on 26 December 1870 at St. Paul’s Church, Cambridge. The couple had seven children: Charles Edward (1871-1906), Ernest John (1878-), Lilian (1882-), Ethel (1885-1930), Herbert Henry (1885-1951), Sydney Frederick (1887-1959) and Harold Reginald (1890-1956). John worked as a cabinet maker/upholsterer and the family were living at 13 Downing Terrace in 1871. He then ran the Temperance Hotel, Hills Road (1881) before moving to live at 91 Mawson Road (at least 1891 onwards).
He was a ‘staunch member of St. Paul’s congregation’ and he and Sarah had an unbroken attendance at the church of over 69 years. In 1931 he said that St. Paul’s Church was ‘his chief recreation’. For nearly 60 years John was said to have ‘concerned himself actively with parochial duties. For 18 years he held the office of church warden. In 1920 Mr and Mrs. Fox were presented by the congregation with a clock and barometer in celebration of their golden wedding, whilst 10 years later they were the proud recipients of a telegram of congratuations from their Majesties the King and Queen’.
The telegram was reported in local press in January 1931 and it read ‘the King and Queen are much interested to hear of the anniversary you are celebrating today, and send you sincere congratuations and good wishes on your diamond wedding day’. The Bishop of Ely also sent his congratulations to the couple, whilst the Mayor and Mayoress paid a personal visit to Mawson Road. At the time of the Diamond Anniversary John was said to possess ‘a marvellous memory and can recall most of the notable (and other) events of the past 50 years and also specifically the great ‘Shah of Persia’ ‘rag’ over 50 years ago of which he was a witness at the railway station’. The anniversary was overshadowed by the death of their daughter Ethel in March 1930 and therefore the family did not celebrate Christmas in 1930.
John and Sarah’s daughter Ethel had married Alfred Charles Vickery (1876-1930) in 1914 and they had four children. Alfred was a silk mercer and in 1930 they were living in York. Ethel and Alfred’s youngest son was born in 1930 and she suffered a reoccurance of a previous mental health issue (which probably would have been diagnosed as post natal depression now) and was sent to Folkestone to recouperate. Her sister in law Gertrude Lyons Fox ran the Fernley Hotel. Gertrude had been worried about Ethel when she arrived as she did not seem her usual happy self and sent for a doctor, who gave her some tablets and recommended rest and nourishment. Ethel was found ‘lying in the area of the hotel terribly injured having apparently fallen from a landing window on the third floor’. She was taken to hospital, but died some hours later of her injuries. An inquest was held where her brother Ernest testified ‘she was of a bright dispositiion but she had not seemed to be able to rouse herself whilst she had been at Folkestone. She was treated once before, about 10 years ago for a breakdown…on that occasion she was looked after by her mother’. A verdict ‘that the deceased threw herself out of the window in a fit of temporary insanity was returned’. The case was reported extensively in national newspapers and noted that ‘her husband who was formerly employed by Messrs. Leak and Thorpe, a local firm of drapers and furnishers has been unemployed for some time’. Their infant son Peter Vickery died a few weeks after his mother and is buried in Folkestone. Alfred Vickery died in June 1930 in York aged 54 years old.
John Fox died at 91 Mawson Road aged 88 years old, after having been ill for the previous two months. Prior to that he had been in good health and ‘was one of the most active of Cambridge’s octogenarians and regularly visited his shop at Hills Road’. His funeral was held on 28 January and his death was reported in local newspapers under the headline of ‘Great Loss to St. Paul’s Church – Large attendance at Funeral’. Sarah Fox left a wreath at the grave which read ‘in ever loving memory of a devoted husband’.
Sarah Ann Tarrant Fox (née Bowman) (9 April 1852 – 7 April 1950)
Sarah was the daughter of John Tarrant Bowman and Sarah. Her father was an upholsterer and she grew up at 1 John Street. After she was widowed she lived at Mawson Road and raised her grandchildren Roy, John and Laura Vickery (children of Ethel and Alfred Vickery) and died at home aged 96 years old.
Roy Fox Vickery (1916-1940) was killed in action in April 1940 whilst serving with 149 Squadron over the Norwegian Coastline when his Wellington was shot down by the Luftwaffe. Laura Vickery (1919-2002) emigrated to Canada and John Ernest Vickery (1915-2006) died in Cambridge.
(**) The family photo shows Sarah Fox holding her great-grandson Brian Fox. Her son Sydney Frederick Fox stands immediately behind her and to his right is his wife Lucy May Fox (née Hodson). To Sarah’s left is Phyllis Fox, the wife of Aubrey Sidney Fox (son of Sydney and Lucy, father of Brian). Aubrey and Phyllis’s son Raymond Fox is standing next to his grandmother Lucy.
John and Sarah’s eldest son Charles was buried in the St. Edward’s area of the Cemetery – his grave has not yet been found
Charles Edward Fox (1871 – 13 January 1906)
Charles was baptised at St. Paul’s Church on 29 October 1871. He worked as a mariner, qualifying as a second mate in May 1899, and as a first mate in July 1901. He died at 4 Edinburgh Avenue, Skegness and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 17 January.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records transcribed by CFHS
by Claire Martinsen
With grateful thanks to great grandson Brian Fox for permission to use the family photo and additional information
[If you have any information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]