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User:Vernon39/Samuel Middleton Fox

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  • Article created 17/9/2010

Samuel Middleton Fox (1856 – 1941) was an amateur writer and dramatist, who also charmingly documented the life of the wealthy, Quaker Fox family of Falmouth during the latter years of the 19th century.

Birth and parental families[edit]

Samuel Middleton Fox was born 16th March, 1856, the son of Rachel, daughter of Sarah and Alfred Fox and Samuel Lindoe Fox (1830 - 1862), son of Maria Fox (born Middleton) and Samuel Fox (1794-1874) [1] of Tottenham and of the Wellington branch of the Fox family [2] [3]

He was the first of many grandsons of his maternal grandparents [4]. His sister, Charlotte Maria was born in December 1857. His father died in November 1862 and his mother, Rachel Fox married again to Phillip Debell Tuckett [5], and they had three further sons, the first given the same name as his father, the second, was Percival Fox Tuckett and the third, Ivor Lloyd Tuckett [6].

Childhood[edit]

Two homes[edit]

S.M. Fox describes his happy childhood visits to his relations in Falmouth and legends about their family history in Two homes, by a grandson (privately printed, 1925) [7].

The two homes belonged to his Falmouth grandparents, Sarah (born Lloyd) and Alfred Fox, who had a house in Falmouth called Woodhouse Place and a coastal residence and garden called Glendurgan (now a National Trust property).

Education[edit]

He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge [3]

Military service[edit]

In 1899, a Samuel Middleton Fox was reported as promoted to Second Lieutenant in the First Cumberland Volunteer Battalion of the Border Regiment [8] and in 1908 as Lieutenant in the Fourth Battalion of the Border Regiment [9].

Marriage and family[edit]

He married Adelaide Eliza Bell (13 September 1859 - 16 June 1922), daughter of James Bell [10] [11] and Mary Ann Spencer [12], of Fawe Park, Keswick, Cumberland [13], on 21 Jul 1887 at the Friends Meeting House in Westminster [14] [15].

They had four children:

  • Helen Juliet Rachel Fox, born at Reading, 1 June 1890 and married Roger Ernle Money-Kyrle
  • Frederick Middleton Fox , OBE, 1962 [16], born at Albury, Surrey 7 May 1892
  • Viola Constance Fox, born at Albury, Surrey 22 Jul 1894, died 29 Oct 1918
  • Cyril Spencer Fox, born at Albury, Surrey 10 Jun 1896 died 31 May 1948

Publications[edit]

  • Our Own Pompeii: a romance of to-morrow, Edinburgh : W. Blackwood & Sons, 1887. in 2 volumes
  • George. A story in drab and scarlet, London : D. Stott, 1890. 3 vol.
  • Verses for Granny: Suggested by the children ... Illustrated by Dorothea A. H. Drew. London : T. Burleigh, 1899.
  • A Child of the Shore: a Cornish romance . London & New York : John Lane, 1905. 307 p. ; 8º.
  • The waters of bitterness; a play in three acts and The clodhopper; an incredible comedy, Series: Plays of To-day and To-morrow, London, T.F. Unwin (1912) Review: " I am inclined to think that we shall hear a great deal of Mr. Fox supposing that Mr. Fox writes other plays as clever as The Waters of Bitterness, and supposing that managers think the public clever enough to appreciate them. Anyhow his is a strong and bold debut." Max Beerbohm in The Saturday Review.
  • This generation : a play New York : Duffield and London, T F Unwin (1912)
  • A Barca Boy. A story of Venice, London, Heath Cranton: London, (1925)
  • Two homes, by a grandson, Plymouth, William Brendon and son, Ltd, Printers - printed for private circulation - copies obtainable (in 1925) from the Friends Bookshop, Bishopsgate, London (1925)

Theatrical performances[edit]

Performed at Stockport Garrick The Waters of Bitterness première of three-act version S M Fox (author present) The Clodhopper première S M Fox (author present) [18].

Death[edit]

Middleton Fox died 12th March 1941. His executors were his half-brother Phillip Debell Tuckett and his son, Frederick Middleton Fox [19]

References[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Samuel Fox's vital dates from The Biographical Dictionary of British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, by Edward H Milligan, Sessions of York (2007) ISBN 978-1-85702-367-7 Parameter error in {{ISBN}}: checksum, p.186.
  2. ^ Revised genealogical account ... Francis Fox ... (1872) - Wellington Foxes p.9, Alfred Fox's family p.12.
  3. ^ a b Photographic pedigree of the descendants of Isaac and Rachel Wilson compiled by Robert Seymour Benson, Middlebrough, William Appleyard & Sons printers (1912) p202: Samuel Middleton and Adelaide Eliza Fox, available online at Internet Archive
  4. ^ Two homes . . . p.19 -Sarah and Alfred Fox had twelve fecund children. See also Revised genealogical Account ... Francis Fox p.12
  5. ^ Revised genealogical Account ... Francis Fox Tuckett family p.20
  6. ^ Ivor Tuckett is not mentioned in the Revised genealogical account ... Francis Fox. Two homes, p.102 mentions I. L. Tuckett as a "brother" and the text, p.32 mentions Middleton's brother, Ivor. I.Ll.Tuckett, M.D. was the author of The Evidence for the Supernatural: A Critical Study Made with Uncommon Sense (1911). His obituary appeared in The British Journal of Ophthalmology 1943 27: 143 which showed his lifespan from 1873 to 1942.
  7. ^ Authorship of Two homes, by a Grandson (1925): The list of people mentioned in the final pages of Two homes makes it clear that the author was Samuel Middleton Fox, the subject of this article. On p.70 of the text, the author refers to himself as "Elton". "Elton", could be a babyish mispronunciation of "Middleton", which he was probably called, as his father and several other members of the Fox family were called "Samuel Fox".
  8. ^ London Gazette 29 December 1899 Page 8661 of issue 27149.
  9. ^ London Gazette 6 November 1908 Page 8039 of issue 28193
  10. ^ James Bell and his wife were licensed to change their name to "Spencer-Bell" on 29 January 1866, according to the London Gazette 2 February 1866, page 585 of issue 23065.
  11. ^ James Bell was MP for Guildford (UK Parliament constituency) 1852-1857.
  12. ^ Mary Ann Spencer Bell died 16 August 1891, according to Probate notice in the London Gazette 8 January 1892, page 162 of issue 26243
  13. ^ Aerial view of Fawe Park on this page, describing Beatrix Potter's visit.
  14. ^ Descendants of William Braithwaite pp81-85
  15. ^ The Times, Monday, July 25, 1887; pg. 1; Issue 32133; col A: Marriages
  16. ^ London Gazette Supplement 2 June 1962 Page 4318 of issue 42683
  17. ^ C. S. Fox was probably Cyril Spencer Fox of Harpenden in Hertfordshire, a translator from German).
  18. ^ Stockport Garrick Archive: première performances of two of Fox's plays.
  19. ^ London Gazette page 3860 of issue 35208: 4 July 1941

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Samuel Middleton}} [Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge] [Category:English memoirists] [Category:English novelists]

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