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Harold Roxbee Cox, Baron Kings Norton (6 June 1902 – 21 December 1997) was a British
aeronautical engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
. He was notable for his contributions to British industry, particularly aeronautical engineering, and for his part in the establishment of
Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...
.


Life

Cox was the son of jeweller William John Roxbee Cox, of Handsworth, Staffordshire, and Amelia (''née'' Stern). The statistician David Cox is a distant cousin. Born Harold Roxbee Cox, he was known as 'Roxbee' to his friends. As a child, his father took him to early air shows and air races, and his imagination was fuelled by pilots of the time such as
Claude Grahame-White Claude Grahame-White (21 August 1879 – 19 August 1959) was an English pioneer of aviation, and the first to make a night flight, during the ''Daily Mail''-sponsored 1910 London to Manchester air race. Early life Claude Grahame-White was born ...
, B. C. Hucks and Gustav Hamel, beginning a lifelong fascination with aircraft. Cox left
Kings Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council war ...
Grammar School (now King's Norton Boys' School) at the age of 16 and joined the Aircraft Design Department of the
Austin Motor Company The Austin Motor Company Limited was a British manufacturer of motor vehicles, founded in 1905 by Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin, Herbert Austin in Longbridge. In 1952 it was merged with Morris Motors, Morris Motors Limited in the new holdi ...
at Longbridge, which was at that time, designing and building light aircraft such as the
Whippet The Whippet is a British breed of dog of sighthound type. It closely resembles the Greyhound and the smaller Italian Greyhound, and is intermediate between them in size. In the nineteenth century it was sometimes called "the poor man's raceh ...
and
Kestrel The term kestrel (from , derivative from , i.e. ratchet) is the common name given to several species of predatory birds from the falcon genus ''Falco''. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover ...
. Guided by the chief designer, he was responsible for the design of the tail unit of the single-seat Whippet. When Austin's aviation interests failed in 1920, Cox was transferred to the workshops to work with the apprentices, and worked towards an external University of London BSc, which he gained with first class honours. In 1922 he left Longbridge for London, where he began studying for both a PhD and a DIC (Diploma of the Imperial College) at
Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
in the aerodynamics and instabilities of wings. As soon as he had graduated, he joined the state-financed Airship
R101 R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme, a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was d ...
engineering team at the Royal Airship Works, Cardington. After the R101 tragedy, the work that had been planned for the R100 was cancelled, and Cox began working on the development of aeroplanes at the
Royal Aircraft Establishment The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), bef ...
at Farnborough. It was here that he contributed to aircraft safety with his studies on the problem of wing flutter and the stability of structures. By 1936 relations between Britain and Nazi Germany were steadily deteriorating, and there was a need to prepare for a possible war. An Air Defence Department was founded at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, and Cox became its head. Much of the work carried out there was with
barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a type of airborne barrage, a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe risk of collision with hostile aircraft, making the atta ...
s. There were two aims to this research. Allied balloons needed to be able to bring down enemy aircraft, and conversely friendly aircraft needed to get through any barrages unscathed. In 1936 the Government created the Air Registration Board (ARB), a new body that would examine civil aircraft and issue certificates of airworthiness. With his experience in air safety from the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Cox became their Chief Technical Officer in 1938. Immediately war was declared, Cox was transferred back to Farnborough as Superintendent of Scientific Research and was then moved to the new
Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
in May 1940, as Deputy Director of Scientific Research. He dealt with a whole range of wartime projects, and was promoted to become Director of Special Projects in 1943. Cox had the special responsibility to work on jet engines. It was now Cox's job not to be the engineer, but the facilitator. The major aircraft and engine companies had each been conducting their own research into combining gas turbines and jet propulsion, but only Group Captain
Frank Whittle Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, (1 June 1907 – 8 August 1996) was an English engineer, inventor and Royal Air Force (RAF) air officer. He is credited with co-creating the turbojet engine. A patent was submitted by Maxime Guillaume in 1921 fo ...
's jet engine design worked. However, collaboration was now more important than trade secrets, with the government encouraging any efforts that could give the Allies any edge in conflict. Cox founded, and chaired, the Gas Turbine Collaboration Committee, helping to pool ideas and experience. In 1944 the
Minister of Aircraft Production The Minister of Aircraft Production was, from 1940 to 1945, the British government minister at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II. It was responsible ...
, Sir
Stafford Cripps Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer by background, Cripps first entered Parliament at a 1931 Bristol East by-election ...
, nationalised
Power Jets Power Jets was a British company set up by Frank Whittle for the purpose of designing and manufacturing jet engines. The company was nationalised in 1944, and evolved into the National Gas Turbine Establishment. History The origins of Powe ...
, making Roxbee both chairman and managing director. Power Jets was restyled again in 1946 as the National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE) with Roxbee as its director. In 1948 Cox moved from the National Gas Turbine Establishment to become Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Fuel and Power, where he applied his gas turbine knowledge for the benefit of power generation. In 1954 Cox left the civil service to begin a second career in industry, and over the next twenty years he served on the boards of companies as diverse as the
British Printing Corporation Maxwell Communication Corporation plc was a leading British media business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It collapsed in 1991 following the death of its titular owner. History Format ...
, the engineers Ricardo, and chemicals company Hoechst UK. He also chaired the packaging company Metal Box and the paint-makers Bergers, Jenson and Nicholson (now Berger Paints India), and was President of the Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association for 33 years. Playing a wider role in business, Cox was involved with a number of industry bodies. He was the Chairman of the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
, and President of both the National Council for Quality and Reliability and the Institute of Marketing. He was Chairman of the National Council for Technological Awards from 1960 until 1964 then Chairman of its successor the
Council for National Academic Awards The Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was the national degree-awarding authority in the United Kingdom from 1965 until its dissolution on 20 April 1993. Background The establishment followed the recommendation of the UK government Com ...
(CNAA) from its inception in 1964 until 1971. His autobiography "A Wrack Behind", was published posthumously in 1999.


College of Aeronautics and Cranfield Institute of Technology

In the summer of 1943, as the vice-president of the
Royal Aeronautical Society The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest Aeronautics, aeronautical society in the world. Memb ...
, Cox chaired two open meetings to discuss the education and training of aeronautical engineers. The
Minister of Aircraft Production The Minister of Aircraft Production was, from 1940 to 1945, the British government minister at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II. It was responsible ...
, Sir Stafford Cripps soon commissioned Sir Roy Fedden, a speaker at the meetings, to report on the state of aeronautical education. His 1944 report "A College of Aeronautics" was the blueprint for Cranfield. The College of Aeronautics opened in October 1946, and was truly a unique establishment. The concept of hands-on learning with access to aircraft and an airfield was completely revolutionary. In 1953, Roxbee was appointed one of three new Deputy Chairmen on the Board of Governors, and in 1962, on the death of Sir Frederick Handley Page, he became the Board's chairman. Years of negotiation followed, and university status and a
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
were granted in 1969 with the college now officially renamed Cranfield Institute of Technology, and eventually - in 1993 -
Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...
. Cox was awarded a
knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in the 1953 New Year Honours. When Cox was honoured with a
life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
age on 22 June 1965, he took the title Baron Kings Norton, ''of Wotton Underwood in the County of
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
'' and his chosen motto, "Precision and Tolerance", was highly appropriate. He specifically intended these words to have a double meaning and they summed him up perfectly. They were to be interpreted in both their narrow engineering context, and also their broader, social context. He was a man with great skills in science. He was also a man whose success lay in his tolerance. It wasn't only that he was a good with people; he was also a diplomat. He believed that there shouldn't be divisions between disciplines: the arts and sciences, technology and management, commerce and education. It was an ethos that he lived by, successfully having careers in aviation, education and industry.


Personal life

In July 1927 Cox married (Doris) Marjorie (1902–1980), eldest daughter of Ernest Edward Withers, an electrical engineer, of Northwood, Middlesex (now part of the
London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is a London borough in Greater London, England. It forms part of outer London and West London, being the westernmost London borough. It was formed in 1965 from the districts of Hayes and Harlington Urban Distr ...
). They had two sons, Christopher (1928–2018) and Jeremy (b. 1932). He married his second wife, Joan Ruth, daughter of William George Pack, of
Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...
, Devon (and formerly wife of K. A. Pascoe) Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, 1995, ed. Patrick Montague-Smith, p. 720 in 1982. He died on 21 December 1997 at the age of 95.


Arms


References


Further reading

*
"Gas Turbine Problems"
a 1945 ''Flight'' article by Dr. Roxbee Cox

a 1945 ''Flight'' article {{DEFAULTSORT:Kings Norton, Roxbee Cox, Baron 1902 births 1997 deaths English aerospace engineers Crossbench life peers Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of Imperial College London People associated with Cranfield University Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Life peers created by Elizabeth II