b. 1821
d. 1878-10-06
William George Cox was born in 1821 in
Dublin, Ireland. On 6 November 1857, Cox married Sophia Elizabeth Webb,
and the following month, Cox left a twelve-year position as a banker to immigrate
to
New York with his wife.
However, after a few months in
New York, Sophia moved back to
Dublin.
Cox continued to travel eastward, reaching
British Columbia in early February of
1859.
Cox acclimated within the community quickly, becoming a constable at
Fort Yale the year of his arrival in
British Columbia.
In 1860, Cox became a Gold Commissioner, as well as a Justice of Peace for the
Rock Creek District. Cox would hold
these positions, working throughout the
Cariboo region, from 1863 to 1867. Although, Cox's magisterial tactics
were considered unorthodox; for example, he purportedly rendered the verdict of a
gold claims case on the outcome of a foot
race.
Cox played a minor role in the events of the Chilcotin War. The war was fought between
the Tsilhqot'in tribe under Klatsassin and British settlers over
the death of fourteen men under the direction of
Alfred Waddington.
Waddington had begun construction of a road from
Bute Inlet, and employed both
British and Chilcotin men. The conflict was sparked by the Tsilhqot'in fear that British
men had caused the spread of smallpox in their tribe in 1862, and
as a result they attacked foreign invaders of their land.
Cox and fifty other men recruited from various goldfields rode west from
Alexandria in early June of 1864 and
camped at
Puntzi Lake, awaiting the arrival of
Governor Seymour's men from
New Westminster. Instead of pursuing the Tsilhqot'in, Cox stayed at
Puntzi Lake for a month using all his supplies, and then sending for more. But,
Governor Seymour
did eventually send Cox and his men to chase rogue Tsilhqot'in near
Tatla Lake.
Cox's party joined
Donald McLean's men at
Fort Kamloops; however,
McLean grew tired of Cox's incompetence and set out for
Chilko Lake independently.
McLean was killed during his pursuit.
The Tsilhqot'in men surrendered to Cox, having believed that the
Governor sent word suing for peace. However, this was not
the case, and the warriors were arrested and hanged soon thereafter at
Quesnel.
Cox was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1867, and would hold the position
for nearly two
years.
During a session on the question of which city should be the new capital of the colonies,
Cox embarrassed a very inebriated
William Hayles Franklyn of
Nanaimo. Cox shuffled
Franklyn's papers, causing him to read his prepared opening statement three times, and
removed the lenses from his spectacles.
Cox was subsequently dismissed in 1869, and moved to
San Francisco to become an artist.
He died 6 October 1878 amidst financial struggles.
- 1. G. R. Newell, Cox, William George,
Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
- 2. Ibid.
- 3. Ibid.
- 4. Edward Sleigh Hewlett, Klatsassin,
Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
- 5. Ibid.
- 6. Newell, Cox, William George.
- 7. Winston A. Shilvock, The Chilcotin War,
British Columbia Historical News, vol. 25, no. 3 (1992): 5-6.
- 8. Ibid.
- 9. Newell, Cox, William George.
- 10. Ibid.
- 11. Ibid.