William Cox

This is the last posting about my father William Cox.  In 1966 my parents decided to emigrate to Australia, probably not the best decision when they were both in their 40s.  My father arranged a job there through the people he worked for here in the uk.

The two photos below were taken at a farewell party their friends in England gave for them before they left.

                               

 They left England on St Patrick's Day 17th March 1967 and arrived in Perth Western Australia about 6 weeks later. 

The photo below was taken on the ship. They had quite an eventful journey as there was trouble in the middle east at that time and they were on the last ship to sail through the Suez Canal before it was closed.  They could hear bombs going off when they stopped in Aden.  

A few months after my parents went to Australia my dad's sister Nora and her husband Harry decided to go too and their daughter Valerie and her family went with them.  This is Mum and Dad with Valerie and her two daughters at Perth Zoo.

Sadly, not long after starting his job there, Bill broke both his heels jumping down off a packing case and was off work for 4 months.  Later the following year he was taken ill with headaches and vomiting and it was thought that he had a brain tumour.  It turned out to be a large aneurism in one of the blood vessels in his brain which the surgeon attempted to tie off but it was too large to tie off completely. The following year, November 1969 Bill had another bleed from the aneurism and passed away on 19th November at the age of 49.  I hadn't seen him since they left over two years earlier but was able to go for his funeral as mum sent me the money.

This is the last picture I have of him which was taken after he had been ill for quite a while.  I was so shocked to see how grey he had become and how much weight he had lost.  I will always miss him and my children missed out on having a wonderful grandfather.  None of them were born at that time so he never saw them.

Elizabeth II Coronation 1953

Not a photo of my ancestors today.  This is one taken at a street party for the Queen's Coronation in 1953.  This was a party held in Birch Avenue in Romiley where my grandparents Samuel and Sarah Cox lived.  

On the front row are my cousin Valerie and I posing with spoons of jelly in our mouths and the little tot to the right of me, kneeling on the chair, is my brother Brian. 

No other family members on the photo and most of the children were grandchildren of the people living in the street.  Most of my grandparents neighbours were quite elderly.

More about William Cox

More pictures of my father Bill Cox taken during my childhood before my family emigrated to Australia.

This first photo of me with mum and dad was taken in early 1946 when I was a few weeks old.

There are photos of me with dad on the page about my grandfather Samuel Henry Cox.

The picture below of me and dad I think must have been taken on a holiday when I was about 2 years old.

Here are mum and dad playing golf  with my brother Brian who looks about 3 so taken in the early 1950s

Bill and Kay sitting on the beach at Cleethorpes. Don't know when this was taken.  Must have been a bit chilly as Bill is wearing his coat.  Also appears very formal wearing a shirt and tie on the beach.  

 

The photo above on the left was taken in Regents Park in London when we stopped for a few hours to do a bit of sight seeing on the way to Margate for a holiday in either 1957 or 1958 I think.  The one on the right is in Margate, my brother Brian, me and dad.  Below Bill rowing a boat which I think might also have been in Margate.

Bill was always a bit of a joker and the photos below were taken in Harrogate in 1963 while we were there for my cousin Valerie's wedding.

The one on the left he is impersonating Tommy Cooper and on the right he is giving mum and haircut!

 

Beryl Ingham

When I was growing up I was often told that my granddad Samuel Henry Cox was related to George Formby. While researching I discovered that it was George's wife Beryl Ingham who he was related to.

Samuel was the son of William Cox and Hannah Ingham.  Hannah's parents were John Ingham and Mary Whittaker.  John and Mary had 10 children, Hannah being the ninth.  Their fourth daughter Mary had an illegitimate son, John James Ingham.

John James Ingham and his wife, Elizabeth Ann Jackson, had two daughters.  May was born on 20th May 1899 and Beryl was born on 9th September 1901 in Alliance Street Baxenden, Lancashire.  My grandfather Samuel and Beryl were first cousins once removed and she was my second cousin once removed. Their father John James was landlord of the Bull Inn in Darwen.

At the age of 11 Beryl won the all England Step Dancing Title and later formed a clog dancing act with her sister May called the Two Violets.  


In 1923, when they were performing in Castleford in West Yorkshire, she met George Formby.  They were married on 13th September 1924 at Wigan Register Office.  George's real name was George Hoy Booth, and his father James Booth was also a music hall artist and also used the name George Formby.

From all the biographies of George it is clear that Beryl was a very strong woman and was the driving force behind his career and really kept him under her thumb.  She starred with him in some of his films and also decided which actresses could star in his films. She found many of them a threat and was very jealous.

More information about George and Beryl can be found here

And here is a link to George and Beryl performing together in the 1935 film Isn't Love A Very Funny Thing

Beryl died of leukaemia on 24th December 1960.

William Cox - India

These are Christmas greetings sent by my father William Cox to his family when he was in India.  I was always under the impression that he drew them and he was good at drawing but I read somewhere that this sort of telegram could be bought  from local "artists".  I still like to think they were his work.  The first was sent at Christmas 1943 and was sent to my grandparents and Nora and Stanley.  Nora was his sister and Stanley was his elder brother's eldest son who lived with his grandparents.

The second was sent a year later.

Whether or not Bill was the artist here or not,  he was definitely the writer of these two poems which he wrote about his thoughts on India.

More about my father William Cox

These photos were taken in India during World War II.  

Bill with the military band.

 This photo has been labelled by Bill.  "Drums, Retreat - beating."  

I cannot pick him out on the photograph unfortunately.

The second one is labelled "Band and Drums" 

Bill is standing in front of the man who is centre in the group of 5 on the back row. 

This one is just labelled "Drums" 

Bill is 4th from the right at the back. 

This group of photos show my handsome father in his dress uniform. Doesn't he look great!