Sir Cyril Fred Fox (16 December 1882 – 15 January 1967) was an English

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and museum director. Fox became keeper of archaeology at the National Museum of Wales, and subsequently served as director from 1926 to 1948. His most notable achievements were collaborative. With his second wife,

Aileen Fox Aileen Mary Fox, Lady Fox, ( Henderson; 29 July 1907 – 21 November 2005) was an English archaeologist, who specialised in the archaeology of south-west England. She notably excavated the Roman legionary fortress in Exeter, Devon, after the S ...

, he surveyed and excavated several prehistoric monuments in Wales. With

Iorwerth Peate Iorwerth Peate, also known as Cyfeiliog, (27 February 1901 – 19 October 1982) was a Welsh poet and scholar, best known as the founder, along with Cyril Fox, of St Fagans National History Museum. Born in Llanbrynmair into a family of carpent ...

, he established the St Fagans National Museum of History, and with Lord Raglan, he authored a definitive history of vernacular architecture, '' Monmouthshire Houses''.

Early life

Sir Cyril Fred Fox was born in

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

, Wiltshire, and his first job, at the age of 16, was as a gardener. He was educated at Christ's Hospital school.

Career

Prior to his appointment as Director of the National Museum of Wales in 1926, Fox served as a clerk in a government commission on tuberculosis and then as director of a small research station in Cambridge. He moved to work part-time for the university's museum of archaeology and anthropology, and he completed a Ph.D thesis, entitled ''Archaeology of the Cambridge Region''. This work was published under the same title in 1923, and met with immediate success, with his election to a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in the same year. In 1922 he was appointed curator of archaeology at the National Museum of Wales by his close friend Mortimer Wheeler and in 1926 succeeded Wheeler as its Director. He produced a remarkable range of publications. They include ''The Personality of Britain'' (1932), drawing attention to the differences between upland and lowland Britain; '' Offa's Dyke'' (1955), a seminal study of that great earthwork, and studies on Celtic Art, on the major discovery of early ironwork at Llyn Cerrig Bach in Anglesey; and '' Monmouthshire Houses'', co-authored with Lord Raglan. For his administrative and scholarly work he gained a wide range of honours, including a knighthood (1935) and Fellowship of the British Academy (1940). Fox's breadth of vision means that his work is still valuable today. Together with his colleague Nash-Williams at the Museum of Wales, he collaborated with the artist

Alan Sorrell Alan Ernest Sorrell (11 February 1904 – 21 December 1974) was an English artist and writer best remembered for his archaeological illustrations, particularly his detailed reconstructions of Roman Britain. He was a Senior Assistant Instructo ...

on reconstruction drawings of the Roman excavations at Caerwent which were published in the '' Illustrated London News'' 1937–1942. Among other achievements, he encouraged his colleague

in the development of what became in 1946, under Peate's direction, the Welsh Folk Museum at St Fagan, near Cardiff (now titled the

St Fagans National History Museum St Fagans National Museum of History ( ; cy, Sain Ffagan: Amgueddfa Werin Cymru, links=no), commonly referred to as St Fagans St Fagans ( ; cy, Sain Ffagan) is a village and community in the west of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. I ...

Personal life

Fox married firstly, Olive Congreve-Pridgeon, with whom he had two daughters. After her death in 1932 he married Aileen Scott-Henderson, another archaeologist. They had three sons. The family lived at Four Elms, a house in Rhiwbina Garden Village, in the north of Cardiff from 1928 until Fox’s retirement in 1948. They then moved to

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devon, following Aileen’s appoint to a post at the University of Exeter. Fox died in 1967.

References

External links

Oxford DNB index entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Cyril Fred English archaeologists Members of the Cambrian Archaeological Association 1882 births 1967 deaths People from Chippenham Knights Bachelor People associated with the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales People educated at Christ's Hospital Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the British Academy Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London