Ebenezer Fox (died 1886), was an English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who later settled in Australia and New Zealand. Fox was born in England and practised his profession in the north until he had nearly attained middle age. For several years he was a chief reporter on the ‘

Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

.’ His account of the great floods at

Holmfirth Holmfirth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, on the A635 and A6024 in the Holme Valley, at the confluence of the River Holme and Ribble, south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley. It mostly consist ...

in 1852 was widely quoted. Delicate health induced Fox to emigrate to Australia. In 1862 he went to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and joined the staff of the ‘

Otago Daily Times The ''Otago Daily Times'' (ODT) is a newspaper published by Allied Press Ltd in Dunedin, New Zealand. The ''ODT'' is one of the country's four main daily newspapers, serving the southern South Island with a circulation of around 26,000 and a c ...

,’ is associated with

Sir Julius Vogel Sir Julius Vogel (24 February 1835 – 12 March 1899) was the eighth premier of New Zealand. His administration is best remembered for the issuing of bonds to fund railway construction and other public works. He was the first Jewish prime min ...

and B. L. Farjeon, the novelist. When Vogel established the ‘Sun,’ Fox assisted him. The two friends moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, and soon after Vogel joined William Fox's ministry in 1869 as

colonial treasurer Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

, Fox became his

private secretary A private secretary (PS) is a civil servant in a governmental department or ministry, responsible to a secretary of state or minister; or a public servant in a royal household, responsible to a member of the royal family. The role exists in t ...

. In 1870 he was appointed a confidential clerk and secretary to the treasury and then later as the Cabinet Secretary, roles which he held simultaneously. After relinquishing the role as cabinet secretary in 1884 he held the position of secretary to the treasury up to his death two years later. For sixteen years he was implicitly trusted by successive ministries. In the columns of ''

The New Zealand Times ''The New Zealand Times'' was a New Zealand daily newspaper published in Wellington from 1874 to 1927. Background The newspaper was founded by Julius Vogel, who had had involvement with newspapers as an editor or owner since his goldfield days i ...

'' Fox wrote a series of articles on the denudation of the forests, which attracted much attention. Fox died of

muscular atrophy Muscle atrophy is the loss of skeletal muscle mass. It can be caused by immobility, aging, malnutrition, medications, or a wide range of injuries or diseases that impact the musculoskeletal or nervous system. Muscle atrophy leads to muscle weaknes ...

at Wellington in January 1886. A columnist for '' The Bulletin'' noted that ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' had included an obituary of Fox, an infrequent occurrence at the time.

References

Year of birth missing 1843 deaths 19th-century British journalists English male journalists Deaths from muscular dystrophy 19th-century male writers {{UK-journalist-stub