Herbert Cox was born on 27th December 1863 at Newton Solney, Derbyshire, the son of John Cox, the village blacksmith, and his wife Sarah. He was baptised on 24th January 1864 at St Mary’s Church in Newton Solney. Herbert attended the village school until the family moved to the hamlet of Twyford between 1875 and 1877, where they lived at the smithy.
By 1881, Herbert’s father was farming 21 acres of land attached to the smithy, as well as working as a blacksmith. Herbert was 17 years old and working on the farm. However, he was also learning the trade of his father. By 1886 Herbert had moved to Smalley, Derbyshire, and was working as the village blacksmith.
Banns of marriage were read between Herbert Cox of Smalley and Sarah Annie Hudson of Twyford, on Sunday 3rd, 10th, and 17th November 1889 at St Andrew’s Church, Twyford, where they married on 20th November. Their marriage was witnessed by Sarah’s brother-in-law Robert Cronshaw and his daughter Alice.
Sarah Anne, known as ‘Sarah Annie’, was born in Twyford on 28th September 1864, the daughter of John and Caroline Hudson. She was baptised on 23rd October 1864 at St Andrew’s Church. Herbert and Sarah met when they were teenagers. Sarah’s father John was a gamekeeper on the Calke Abbey Estate, and the family lived a short distance from Smithy Farm where Herbert lived, which was close to the school Sarah attended. The Hudson and Cox families were joined again in 1904 when Herbert’s sister Mary Ann Cox married Sarah Annie’s nephew John Hudson.
After their marriage, Herbert and Sarah Annie lived at the smithy in the village of Smalley, on what was then known as Derby Road. Their first child Annie was born in April 1891 and baptised at St John the Baptist’s Church on 10th May. She was followed a year later by John William in April 1892, who was baptised on 29th May at the same church.
Herbert was a member of the Stainsby Cricket Club of Smalley. Robert Degge, the son of Edward Degge Wilmot-Sitwell who owned Stainsby House, was keen on cricket and the team were encouraged to play on the lawn in front of Stainsby House. Robert offered 10 shillings to any batsman who could break one of the house windows - Herbert is said to have landed a ball in the entrance porch, but unfortunately this did not qualify for the prize!
1892 was not a very successful year for the cricket team. At the annual meeting of the club, held in the evening of 18th November at the Bell Inn, Smalley, the chairman noted that their fielding needed to be improved. However, Herbert was awarded a prize for having the highest batting average.
Herbert Cox, circa 1895
Herbert and Sarah’s next child, Nellie, was born in May 1893. She was followed by Charles Edwin in October 1894, who was baptised on 11th November; Walter Herbert in July 1896, who was baptised on 20th September; and Reginald Ernest in August 1898, who was baptised on 11th September. All the children were baptised at St John the Baptist’s Church.
Kelly’s 1891 Directory of Derbyshire | Smalley (extract)
Their seventh child was named Elsie who was baptised on 25th March 1900 at St John the Baptist’s Church. However, Elsie died at the age of 3 and was buried in the churchyard on 3rd March 1903.
Herbert continued to work as a blacksmith and the family were still living at the smithy when their daughter Doris was born in September 1902. She was followed by Albert Edric in November 1904. Both Doris and Albert were baptised at St John the Baptist’s Church within three months of their birth.
Herbert and Sarah’s tenth and last child was born in September 1906. Named Norman Alec Cox, he was baptised at St John the Baptist’s Church on 3rd February 1907.
Between 1906 and 1910 the family moved to Quarry Farm (later called West Meadow Farm) on Kytes Lane, half a mile south from the smithy, where Herbert became a tenant farmer on land owned by Arthur Edward Miller Mundy, Squire of Shipley and Mapperley. Although at this time wheat was the main crop in the fields around Smalley, most of the land was in pasture for dairy produce. The smithy was handed-over to Herbert’s brother-in-law George William ‘Ernest’ West who became the village blacksmith.
By 1911, Herbert’s sons John William, Charles Edwin, and Walter Herbert, were working on the farm with him. Sarah Annie’s parents had recently moved into Field View Cottage which was adjacent to the farm.
Herbert Cox and family, Quarry Farm, Smalley, circa 1911Charles Edwin, Albert Edric, Annie, John William, Herbert, Doris, Sarah Annie, Walter Herbert, Nellie, Norman Alec, Reginald Ernest
The Cox family were very much involved with the local church. Herbert had been a clerk for the church in 1903, and his sons John William, Charles Edwin, Walter Herbert, and Reginald Ernest, all served as the organ blower between 1904 and 1914. This was a much sought after position among the young boys of the parish - during the two or three Sunday services and for mid-week choir practice, they would sit behind a curtain at the front of the south aisle and pump a wooden handle, earning themselves 10s. per quarter.
Derbyshire Advertiser, 24th March 1916
In 1916 the family moved again, this time 35 miles north to Blake Edge Farm in Fairfield, near Buxton. This move was a big undertaking for Herbert since he took his cows with him by cattle train. His journey may have started by walking the cows two miles to the station at Heanor Gate, or perhaps he was allowed to use the nearby Mapperley line from Mapperley Colliery. In either case, the journey would have taken them first to Ilkeston, and then north on the Ripley and Heanor line to Butterley; then east on the Midland Railway North line to Ambergate to join the Manchester line; through Matlock and Bakewell to join the Buxton line at Blackwell; and into the Buxton, where he probably walked the cattle the remaining two miles north. Meanwhile, Herbert’s sons John William and Albert Edric took the horses and carts to Buxton by road, a journey of around ten hours, riding short distances at a time. It is thought that the family moved because the climate was considered to be more suited to Sarah Annie’s health.
A letter from Herbert to his son Walter written on 8th October 1922 survives. Walter was living at home, working as a butcher, and hawking his products from his van in the local villages. Herbert was visiting his sister Alice in Burton-on-Trent and wrote to Walter to inform him that he had seen a corner shop available on Sydney Street which he thought might be a good location for Walter to set-up as a pork shop. Herbert had taken a look at the property and the owner agreed to hold it for two days so that Walter would have time to visit, with Herbert telling his son to ‘bring a couple of rabbits if there are any in.’ Walter did take the shop and established a very successful business, winning several awards in later years.
Part of the letter from Herbert Cox to Walter Herbert Cox
By 1925, only Nellie, Doris, Albert Edric, and Norman Alec were still living with their parents, when they all moved eight miles north to Thornset, Birch Vale, in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, where they rented Thornsett Hey Farm. Here the family ran a dairy farm, supplying milk and eggs to the local area.
Location of Thornsett Hey Farm
Herbert and Sarah Annie continued to visit family back in Smalley. The organ at St John the Baptist’s Church was in need of extensive repairs, and in 1930 an appeal to past and present residents of the village raised £233. ‘Mr and Mrs Herbert Cox’ are included on the list of subscribers to the Organ Renovation Fund, contributing 10 shillings.
Part of a letter written by Sarah Annie Cox on 26th January 1939 to her son Norman Alec Cox
Sarah Annie Cox died at Thornsett Hey on 11th February 1939, aged 74. She was buried in the churchyard at St Andrew’s Church in Twyford, the hamlet of her childhood home, on 15th February.
Three months after his wife’s death, Herbert Cox died on 5th May 1939 at Manchester Infirmary. He was 75 years old and was interred with Sarah Annie in the churchyard at Twyford on 8th May.
Herbert Cox was my great-granduncle and Sarah Annie Cox (née Hudson) was my great-great-grandaunt.