George William Cox | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1827-01-10)10 January 1827 Benares, India |
| Died | 10 February 1902(1902-02-10) (aged 75) Walmer, England |
| Occupations | historian and priest |
George William Cox (Benares, 10 January 1827 – Walmer, 10 February 1902) was a British historian. He is known for resolving the severalmyths ofGreece and the world into idealisations of solar phenomena. The French poetStéphane Mallarmé has translated some of his works under the title ofLes Dieux antiques (1880).
He was born atBenares on 10 January 1827.He was the eldest son of the six children of Captain George Hamilton Cox (died 1841), of theEast India Company's service, and Eliza Kearton, daughter of John Horne, planter, ofSt. Vincent in the West Indies.[1] A brother, Colonel Edmund Henry Cox of the royal marine artillery, fired the first shot againstSevastopol in theCrimean War.[2]
Sent to England in 1836, Cox attended a preparatory school at Bath and the grammar school,Ilminster. In August 1842, he was admitted toRugby underArchibald Tait. In 1843, Cox won the senior school scholarship at Rugby, and in 1845 he was elected scholar ofTrinity College, Oxford. Although he obtained only a second class in the final classical school in 1848, his scholarship was commended by the examiners. He both graduated B.A. and proceeded M.A. in 1859.[2]
The Oxford Movement excited Cox's sympathy, and in 1850 he was ordained by Dr.Wilberforce, bishop of Oxford. After serving a curacy atSalcombe Regis, he resigned owing to ill-health, and in 1851 accepted the post of English chaplain atGibraltar. But Cox's high church views, which coloured hisLife of Boniface[3] in 1853, met with the disapproval of his bishop, Dr.Tomlinson, and he gladly embraced the opportunity of accompanyingJohn William Colenso on his first visit toSouth Africa as bishop of Natal (1853-4). On his return to England he became curate ofSt. Paul's, Exeter, in 1854 and for a year (1859–60) he was a master at Cheltenham.[2]
Cox supported Bishop Colenso in his stand for liberal criticism of the scriptures and in his struggle over his episcopal status in South Africa. He defended Colenso in a long correspondence withF. D. Maurice, and warmly supported the bishop during his stay in England (1863-1865).
In 1880, Cox was appointed Vicar ofBekesbourne by A. C. Tait, archbishop of Canterbury, and from 1881 to 1897, he was rector of the crown living ofScrayingham, Yorkshire. In 1886, he was chosenBishop of Natal by the adherents of Colenso, but was refused consecration by Archbishop Benson owing to his election being unacceptable to the high church party.[2]
On 18 May 1896, Cox received a civil list pension of £120. He died at Ivy House, Walmer, on 9 February 1902.[2] He had laid claim to the Irish baronetcy of Cox ofDunmanway, and styled himself with the honorific 'Sir'. After his death, however, the Privy Council rejected his son's claim to the baronetcy.[4][5]
Cox's religious principles changed, largely under the influence of historical study. An article in theEdinburgh Review (January 1858)[6] on Milman'sHistory of Latin Christianity[7] illustrates the development of his views on broad church lines.
Cox's association with Colenso gave him abundant material for The Life of Bishop John William Colenso, D.D., Bishop of Natal, which he published in 1888. In the same year he issued a very short vindication of Colenso's views as he understood them, inThe Church of England and the Teaching of Bishop Colenso[8] maintaining Colenso's loyalty to the church.[2] (Bishop Colenso's teaching, however, is to be found rather in the Natal Sermons, the first two Series having been recently re-printed in facsimile. The third and fourth Series were published only in South Africa and unfortunately are extremely rare.[citation needed])
Cox's two-volume biography is the most valuable source for the life of Bishop Colenso because of the large number of letters from the Bishop that it contains. A new edition was published by the Cambridge University Press in 2011. The following year a facsimile edition was also published. (Other major sources include Letters from Natal, written by his scholarly wife.)[citation needed]
His other works includes studies of mythology, and histories of the Greeks and Persians, the Crusades, the establishment of British India, and of England and the English people, as well as a book of "family prayer" based on Jeremy Taylor and other 17th century divines.[citation needed]
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Woods, Gabriel Stanley (1912). "Cox, George William". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 1. London:Smith, Elder & Co.
