Charles Herbert Fox (1861 – 1939) was a British

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

activist and

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

. Born in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, the son of a

, Fox studied at Sidcot School. His father died when he was fifteen, and he worked as a building supplies manufacturer. However, his health broke down when he was twenty, and the co-operative advocate Samuel Saunders helped him recuperate with gentle work on a

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

. This led Fox to support the

Whiteway Colony Whiteway Colony is a residential community in the Cotswolds in the parish of Miserden near Stroud, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. The community was founded in 1898 by Tolstoyans and today has no spare land available with over sixty homes and 1 ...

, and also to become a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. National Archives,
Charles Fox of Gloucester, (1861–1939)
In the 1890s, Fox moved back to Gloucester, where he qualified as a dentist, and also attended to the health of residents during a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemic. He stood unsuccessfully for the Labour Party in

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Riv ...

at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

, and was also active in the Independent Labour Party. Fox stood again for Labour at the 1931 general election, this time in

, but was again unsuccessful. He died in 1939.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Charles 1861 births 1939 deaths English dentists Independent Labour Party politicians Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Gloucester