Newspaper editor and owner (c.1827?1903)
Charles James Fox
BA (c. 1827 ? 14 March 1903) was a newspaper editor and owner in Australia.
History
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Little is known of his earlier life, but he was brought up as a Roman Catholic and graduated BA from
St John's College, Oxford
.
[1]
He emigrated to Adelaide, South Australia,
[
when?
]
and married Mary Ann Toole on 31 October 1866.
[2]
He was Latin master at
John Lorenzo Young
's
Adelaide Educational Institution
from 1868
[3]
to 1871
[4]
or later.
Fox was involved in various Catholic lay organizations: he was hon. sec. of the committee to erect a memorial to Fr.
J. N. Hinterocker
SJ (c. 1820?1872)
[5]
He succeeded
Benjamin Hoare
as editor of
The Irish Harp and Farmers' Herald
in January 1870.
[6]
in which paper he notably criticised
Bishop Sheil
's excommunication of
Mary MacKillop
.
[7]
and was ousted from the South Australian Catholic Association, of which he was president.
[8]
and founding member.
[9]
He retired as editor around August 1875.
[10]
to concentrate on an agency he was running at 71
King William Street, Adelaide
.
[11]
In 1883 he moved to Hobart, Tasmania, where he edited the
Tasmanian Mail
. He left for New South Wales in June 1888
[12]
He purchased the
Northern Argus
of
Narrabri, New South Wales
, which he ran as proprietor and editor.
On 29 August 1890 fire destroyed the building, owned by a Mr. Spencer, and its contents, all of which were owned by Fox: a steam engine and two presses, good quality type and consumables.
[13]
Despite rumors, an inquest found no evidence of arson. Fox had a court case pending in which he was being sued for publishing a libel.
[14]
He was appointed editor of the
Cairns Argus
in May 1899,
[15]
and was still editor in February 1903, when he sprained his ankle as the result of a fall and was hospitalised in
Townsville
. He died there a week later.
Family
[
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]
Sir Frank Fox
(born 10 August 1874), author and editor of
The Lone Hand
(and much else) was a son.
References
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]