William Cox (governor)
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William John Ellis Cox, AC, RFD, ED (born April 1, 1936 in Hobart, Tasmania) has been Governor of Tasmania since 15 December 2004, prior to which he was the state's Chief Justice.
He was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne and the University of Tasmania.
He was admitted to the bar in 1960, appointed a magistrate in 1976, and became a Queen's Counsel in 1978, during his term as the State's Crown Advocate (equivalent to Director of Public Prosecutions).
He was appointed to the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 1982, and was the state's Chief Justice from 1995 until 2004. In 1999, Mr Justice Cox was made Companion of the Order of Australia. He already held the Reserve Force Decoration (RFD) and the Army's Efficiency Decoration (ED) for service in the Royal Tasmanian Regiment, including service in Vietnam.
Up until his appointment as Governor of Tasmania, Cox was serving as Lieutenant-Governor and Chief Justice of Tasmania. In August 2004, he became acting Governor upon the resignation of the disgraced Richard Butler, and in November the premier, Paul Lennon, announced that he had advised the Queen to appoint Cox Tasmania's Governor.
William Cox is married to Jocelyn with three children.
Cox is only the second Tasmanian-born Governor in the state's history. The other was Sir Guy Green. He is Honorary Colonel of the Royal Tasmania Regiment and Honorary Air Commodore of the RAAF No. 29 (City of Hobart) Squadron.
