Howard Fox (10 December 1836 – 15 November 1922) was a shipping agent and played a large part in the economic and cultural development of the town of Falmouth, Cornwall. He was a member of the influential Fox family of Falmouth.

Business interests

The Fox family had built up a diversified set of interests beyond the original

shipbroking Shipbroking is a financial service, which forms part of the global shipping industry. Shipbrokers are specialist intermediaries/negotiators (i.e. brokers) between shipowners and charterers who use ships to transport cargo, or between buyers and ...

office. Howard Fox led the central board of the company.

Consular roles

He was

Consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...

for the United States of America in Falmouth from 1874 until 1905, in succession to his father. In April 1870, he was appointed Vice-Consul for the Republic of the Ecuador. He was appointed Consul for

Sweden and Norway Sweden and Norway or Sweden–Norway ( sv, Svensk-norska unionen; no, Den svensk-norske union(en)), officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, and known as the United Kingdoms, was a personal union of the separate kingdoms of Sweden ...

in 1896. He became Consul for Denmark in 1909.

Harbour and Dock development

He was also chairman of Falmouth Docks Company for 45 years, succeeding his father.

Scientific interests

He had wide general interests in science and supported the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society and the British Association. At the British Association's Annual Meeting held in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in September 1893, he read a paper to the Geology Section "The radiolarian

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

s of Cornwall". In 1884, he attended the British Association meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the Geological Society of London. He served as president of the

Royal Geological Society of Cornwall The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Penzance, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world ...

in 1893–1894, and in 1897 was awarded the RGSC's prestigious ''Bolitho Gold Medal''. He was also interested in

ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and horticulture. He was given the exotic garden developed by his Uncle Robert, at Rosehill, Falmouth, in 1872.

Philanthropy and Peace activities

Along with many other members of the Fox family, he was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

, and engaged with them in various philanthropic projects. He was a founder of Falmouth County School for Girls. In 1878, he seconded a motion at a public meeting of Falmouth Chamber of Commerce, urging the Government "to maintain in the present crisis he Russo-Turkish Warthe principles of strict neutrality".

Birth, marriage and family

He was born on 10 December 1836 at Wodehouse Place, Falmouth, the third son of the twelve children of Alfred Fox (1794–1874) and his wife, Sarah Lloyd (1804–1890). He married Olivia Blanche Orme (1844–1930) in 1864. They had four children, two boys and two girls. His son, Charles Masson Fox, was a timber merchant and a director of the family shipping broking company, G. C. Fox. His son, Howard Orme Fox (17 August 1865 – 7 June 1921) was an Imperial Civil Servant. His daughters, Olivia Lloyd Fox (born 1868) and Stella (Born 1876), gave Rosehill Garden to Falmouth Town Council. He died 15 November 1922 at Rosehill, Falmouth.

Publications

*''Observations in further illustration of the history and statistics of the Pilchard Fishery'' (1879). *"The flying

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

or calamar", Falmouth : ''Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society'', 1879 *"Further Killigrew Mss. Relating to the Killigrew Pyramid or Monument at Falmouth and Other Matters" ''Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall''. No.42. *"Further Notes on the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...

Rocks and Fossils in the Parish of St Minver." ''Transactions of the

''. Vol.13, Part 1, 1905. *"Notes on some coast-sections at the Lizard : On a radiolarian chart from

Mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

Island" by Howard Fox and J. J. H. Teall. ''The Quarterly Journal of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

'', Vol.49 (1893) pp. 199 and 211. *"On a well-marked horizon of radiolarian rocks in the lower

Culm Measures The Culm Measures are a thick sequence of geological strata originating during the Carboniferous Period that occur in south-west England, principally in Devon and Cornwall, now known as the Culm Supergroup. Its estimated thickness varies between 36 ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, Cornwall and West

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

" by George Jennings Hinde and Howard Fox. ''The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society'', 1895; v. 51; issue.1–4; p. 609-NP;"On Well-marked horizon . . " Full text a
The Lyell Collection, online (accessed 24 December 2007).
/ref> *"On Some Nodular Concretions, Resembling Fossil Wood and Fossil Fish : Treworden Wood, Launceston." ''Transactions of the Royal Cornwall Geological Society'', 1894. *"On the

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

ic rocks off the

Lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

; with notes on the specimens" by Howard Fox and J. J. H. Teall, ''The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London''. Vol.44. 1888 p519-544 *"Supplementary Notes on the Cornish Radiolarian Cherts and Devonian Fossils" ''Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall'', Vol.12, Part 4, 1899. *''On a soda feldspar rock at Dinas Head, North Coast of Cornwall'', Cambridge University Press, 1895.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Howard 1836 births 1922 deaths English businesspeople English Quakers People from Falmouth, Cornwall

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

Presidents of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall