William John Ellis Cox,AC, RFD, ED, KC (born 1 April 1936) wasGovernor of Tasmania from 15 December 2004 to 2 April 2008, prior to which he was the state'sChief Justice andLieutenant Governor.^[1]

Born inHobart to William Ellis Cox (d. 1970) and Alice Mary Mulcahy Cox (d. 1983), William John Ellis Cox was educated atSt. Virgil's College, Hobart,^[1]Xavier College, Melbourne and theUniversity of Tasmania.^[2] He graduated from the University of Tasmania with aBachelor of Arts and aBachelor of Laws in 1960 and was admitted to the Bar in theSupreme Court of Tasmania in March 1960. He was appointed a magistrate in 1976, and became aQueen's Counsel in 1978, during his term as the State'sCrown Advocate (equivalent toDirector of Public Prosecutions).^[2]

Cox was appointed to theSupreme Court of Tasmania in 1982,^[2] and was the state'sChief Justice from 1995 until 2004. He was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania in 1996.^[3] In 1999, Cox was made aCompanion of the Order of Australia (AC). He already held theReserve Force Decoration (RFD) and the Army'sEfficiency Decoration (ED) for service in theRoyal Tasmania Regiment, which included a brief deployment toVietnam.^[4]

Cox's most high profile court case was that ofMartin Bryant, whoshot dead 35 people atPort Arthur on 28 April 1996 and was brought before Cox for his trial six months later. Bryant admitted all 35 murders on 8 November and Cox sentenced him to life imprisonment fourteen days later, recommending that Bryant should stay in prison until he dies.^[5]

In August 2004, Cox was appointed to administer the Government of Tasmania upon the resignation ofRichard Butler and, in November the Premier,Paul Lennon, announced that he had advised theQueen to appoint Cox as Governor of Tasmania. Cox is only the second Tasmanian-born governor in the state's history.^[2] The first wasSir Guy Green.

During his term, Cox was the Honorary Colonel of theRoyal Tasmania Regiment and Honorary Air Commodore of theRAAFNo. 29 (City of Hobart) Squadron.

Cox was succeeded as Governor on 2 April 2008 byPeter Underwood, Chief Justice of Tasmania.^[6]

In November 2015, Cox was appointed to conduct the first five yearly review into theTasmanian Integrity Commission.^[7]

Cox and his wife Jocelyn have three children.^[1]

• 1936 births
• Living people
• Governors of Tasmania
• Chief justices of Tasmania
• Companions of the Order of Australia
• Judges of the Supreme Court of Tasmania
• 20th-century Australian judges
• 21st-century Australian judges
• Australian King's Counsel
• Australian people of Irish descent
• People from Hobart
• People educated at Xavier College
• People educated at St Virgil's College
• Honorary air commodores of the Royal Australian Air Force

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