Richard Cox (c. 1766 – 20 May 1845) was an English

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

who bred the

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

varieties

Cox's Orange Pippin Cox's Orange Pippin, in Britain often referred to simply as Cox, is an apple cultivar first grown in 1825, at Colnbrook in Buckinghamshire, England, by the retired brewer and horticulturist Richard Cox. Though the parentage of the cultivar i ...

and Cox's Pomona. Cox operated the Black Eagle

Brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of be ...

located at 27 White's Grounds,

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham, a ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

until 1820, when he retired with his wife Ann to ''The Lawns'' (later ''Colnbrook Lawn'') in

Colnbrook Colnbrook is a village in the Slough district in Berkshire, England. It lies within the historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, and straddles two distributaries of the Colne, the Colne Brook and Wraysbury River. These two streams have their co ...

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

(now

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, to pursue his hobby of horticulture. The house sat on two acres of land in the vicinity of Rodney Way and Daventry Close on the north side of the old Bath Road (now the High Street), about a mile west of the modern-day boundary of

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

. In 1830 he planted pips in his orchard Satisfied with the quality of the fruit produced by two of his seedlings, in 1836 he supplied

grafts Grafting refers to a surgical procedure to move tissue from one site to another on the body, or from another creature, without bringing its own blood supply with it. Instead, a new blood supply grows in after it is placed. A similar techniqu ...

to E. Small & Son, the local

nurseryman A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

who offered the first trees for sale in 1840. The two varieties, Cox's Orange Pippin and Cox's Pomona, remained mostly unknown until Charles Turner of the Royal Nurseries in Slough, impressed by their quality, began to offer them in his catalog in 1850. Other English nurserymen began to graft and sell Cox's Orange Pippin trees, and by 1883 it was one of the most popular apples in the country. Cox died in 1845 without seeing the success of the apple varieties to which he gave his name. By 2007, Cox's Orange Pippin, grown worldwide, was Britain's most popular apple, accounting for over 50% of UK orchard acreage, and 48% of sales. Ownership of the brewery passed to Noakes & Company after Cox's death and would continue operation under different owners, ultimately

Courage Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...

, until 1930. The original Cox's Orange Pippin tree in Colnbrook was blown down in a storm in 1911, but two trees, grafted from the original, were still standing in the orchard as of 1933. The site is currently occupied by a block of low-rise flats also called ''The Lawns''. Richard Cox outlived his wife by eight years and died in 1845, aged 79; both are buried in the churchyard at St.Mary's in

Harmondsworth Harmondsworth is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon in the county of Greater London with a short border to the south onto Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow Airport. The village has no railway stations, but adjoins the M4 motorway and t ...

. A memorial orchard stands near the site of ''The Lawns'' in Colnbrook, consisting of Cox's Orange Pippin, Cox's Pomona, Ribston Pippin, and Blenheim Orange with metallic benches in the shapes of the letters C, O and X.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Richard 1766 births 1845 deaths English horticulturists English brewers