Charles Cox was born in 1823 in Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire, England. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Early Years
When he was 16 Charles may have observed the first Henley Regatta, a series of boat races on the River Thames that quickly became a popular annual event.
In the 1841 England Census Charles, a 17 year old labourer, is living in the same house as his future in-laws William and Sophia Cowling in St Ebbe Parish in Oxfordshire. His future wife Margaret is only 9. [1]
Though likely inconvenienced by the 1842 General Strike, Charles may have agreed that industrial workers deserved better treatment and higher wages.
In 1846, the debates over the repeal of the Corn Laws might have found Charles closely following events to see the outcome.
In 1851, Charles Cox was living in Kensington, Middlesex when the worldwide cholera epidemic made deadly passes through England and Wales. He may have been a patient at Royal Brompton Consumption Hospital as he appears as a patient in Kensington, Middlesex, England in the 1851 Census on March 30, 1851. His regular employment was as a gardener. (more about consumption and this hospital at the end) [2]
Charles Cox married Margaret Ellen Cowling in Oxford, Oxfordshire, in July 1857 when he was 34 years old and she was 24. [5]
Family
Their son William Charles (my great-great-grandfather) was born in July 1858 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, and was baptized on September 19 that year at Holy Trinity Oxfordshire England Parish. Charles was working as a baker at the time.
Charles and his family were living in Oxford, Oxfordshire in 1861 when Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, died suddenly. [3]
Another son, George Frederick, was born in 1861 in Oxfordshire. This was a time when the railroad industry swiftly expanded in England.
Charles was working as a baker when son Walter was born in 1862 and daughter Elizabeth was born in April 1868 in Oxford, Oxfordshire. [6]
Charles and his family lived in St Mary Magdalene, Oxfordshire, in 1871. Living in the United Kingdom in 1871, Charles Cox may have enjoyed additional days off from work, thanks to Sir John Lubbock’s bill that sanctioned government-sponsored bank holidays. [4]
Death
Charles' date of death is unknown.
Sources:
1. 1841 England Census
2. 1851 England Census
3. 1861 England Census
4. 1871 England Census
5. England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915
6. Oxfordshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1915
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Additional:
Consumption in the 19th Century
In the 19th century, consumption was a common word for tuberculosis. At the time consumptive patients were turned away from other hospitals as there was no known cure. Hospitals that dealt with such diseases later came to be known as sanatoria. It was estimated in 1844 that of the 60,000 deaths each year in England and Wales caused by diseases, some 36,000 were caused by consumption.[3]
The beginning
The hospital was founded in the 1840s by Philip Rose, the first meeting to establish the Hospital was on 8 March 1841.[4] It was to be known as The Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest.[4] It amalgamated on 25 May 1841 with The West London Dispensary for Diseases of the Chest, which was based at 83 Wells Street, near Oxford Street.[4] On 28 March 1842, an out-patients branch of the hospital was opened at 20 Great Marlborough Street.[4] Later that year they acquired a lease on their first building for in-patients at The Manor House, Chelsea, which held space for 20 beds and the first in-patients were admitted on 13 September 1842.[4] Admittance was to be by the then customary method of recommendation by the Governors and subscribers.[4]
Funding
In common with other hospitals at the time, the hospital was to be financed entirely from charitable donations, legacies and fund raising. Rose travelled the country to explain the aims of the hospital, setting up 14 provincial associations, 157 churches promised to preach special sermons as a means of fund raising. The famous singer, Jenny Lind also gave concerts, including one at Her Majesty's Theatre in July 1848, which raised £1,606.[4] Besides Philip Rose, the early supporters included Queen Victoria, who became a patron, with an annual subscription of £10.[4]
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| A view of the hospital shortly after it opened |
The area known as Brompton was no more than a village surrounded by market gardens, but quickly developed in the 1840s. The hospital acquired a market garden site there from a charity to erect a new hospital, with the architect being Frederick John Francis.[5] The stone laying for the west wing was on 11 June 1844 by Prince Albert, the Prince Consort.[4] One of the features of the building was the inclusion of ventilation by forced warm air in an attempt to create a temperature more commonly found in more southern latitudes.[4] The total cost for the west wing and part of the centre was £11,762.[4] The first admission of patients was in 1846, whilst the east wing was completed in 1852.[4]
The medical committee of the hospital commissioned a small sanatorium in Bournemouth which was designed by E B Lamb and opened as the Royal National Sanatorium for Diseases of the Chest in 1855.[6]
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