| Samson Fox | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 July 1838 Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire |
| Died | 24 October 1903 (aged 65) Walsall, Staffordshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Engineer, industrialist and philanthropist |
| Known for |
|
| Spouse | Mary Anne Slinger |
| Awards |
|
Samson Fox (11 July 1838 – 24 October 1903) was a British engineer, industrialist, and philanthropist.
Samson Fox was born in Bowling, Bradford, Yorkshire, England, to Jonas and Sarah Fox (née Pearson),[1] and the family moved shortly afterwards to live in nearby Leeds. At the age of eight he started work in a textile mill and at fifteen became an apprentice at a toolmaking and foundry company.[1] In his late 20s, he was running his own toolmaking business (The Silver Cross Works). Ten years later, in 1874, he set up the Leeds Forge Company to produce "Best Yorkshire" iron for locomotive and marine engine parts. In 1877 he developed the corrugated boiler flue for which he became famous.[1] This simple idea involved corrugating the flue pipes inside the boiler, improving both their heat transfer capability and compressive strength, enabling smaller boilers working at higher pressures to be used with improved safety. "Fox Corrugated" was adopted as standard by the Admiralty and major steamship lines and was widely patented.[1][2]
In 1887, he applied his knowledge and experience in forging to building forged "pressed" iron railway undercarriages and trucks. His railway trucks could support 120 tons without failing, were guaranteed for five years and were soon being sold in Argentina, Belgium, Bengal, India, Japan, and Spain, in addition to England.[3] North America however was the world's biggest market so in 1888 Fox went to the United States and made a deal with famous railway salesman Diamond Jim Brady whereby Brady would sell American-made Fox trucks in America and remit one third of the price back to Samson Fox as commission. Brady's sales techniques soon succeeded and in 1888 the Fox Solid Pressed Steel Company was incorporated to manufacture the trucks in Joliet, Illinois.
He won a number of awards for his work, including the Royal Society of Arts gold medal for the corrugated flue and the French Legion of Honour.[2]
Fox bought and extended Grove House in Harrogate, a Yorkshire spa town and became a benefactor to the local community.[1][2][4] He provided Harrogate with its first steam Fire Engine, built the Grove Road School opposite his home, funded the Royal Hall, and provided affordable social housing. He also built a "water gas" plant to provide the main street of Harrogate with some of the earliest street lighting.[1] In 1892-4 he provided most of the funds (£45,000 in two donations) to build the Royal College of Music in London (his bust is in the entrance hall).[1][2] Eventually he became Mayor of Harrogate for three successive years (1890–92), a record never equalled since.[1][4][5] He was a JP (Justice of the Peace) for both Leeds and Harrogate.[4][6]
Around 1890, he invited the Croatian artist Vlaho Bukovac to stay at Grove House and paint a series of family portraits. He collected many of Bukovac's other paintings but the collection was dispersed in an auction in 1911. The most important of all his purchases was the huge 'Suffer the Little Children', shown at the Paris Salon in 1888, which the Fox family later presented to St. Robert’s church in Harrogate.[7]
He died in Walsall, Staffordshire, in 1903.[8] The King sent Harrogate a telegram of condolence.[9]
He had married Mary Anne Slinger in Leeds in 1861. They had four children. At the 1889 wedding of his eldest daughter Clara Louisa to engineer Bernal Bagshawe, Dan Leno was paid the then unheard of sum of £100 to entertain the guests and the grounds of Grove House were thrown open to the people of Harrogate. He remarried in 1899, after the death of his first wife in 1895, Annie Louise Baxter.
In 1891 Samson Fox was granted Arms by the College of Arms, London:[10]
Arms: Argent a representation of a corrugated boiler-flue fesseways proper between two foxes courant Gules each holding in their mouth a trefoil slipped Vert.[6]
Crest: A representation of a corrugated boiler-flue as in the Arms and thereupon a fox Gules resting the dexter pay upon a trefoil slipped Vert.
Motto: Forti Nihil Difficile. (To the brave, nothing is difficult.)
His son, Arthur William Fox, married Hilda Hanbury, sister of actress Lily Hanbury. His grandson Robin Fox is the head of the Robin Fox acting dynasty, making Samson Fox great-grandfather to screen actors Edward Fox OBE and James Fox OBE, and great-great-grandfather to English actress Emilia Fox and her cousin Laurence Fox.[1][9]