Alfred William Cox (born Liverpool, England, 1857, died London, England 4 May 1919) was a racehorse owner and breeder. He was the son of a wealthy Scottish cotton broker, Alexander Robb Cox, and Margaret Lockhart Greenshields. His father Alexander was a director and partner in the firm of Cox, McEuon which dealt in jute, flax and hemp. The family bought the Hafod Elwy Estate in North Wales in 1864 for a holiday home and the estate remained in the possession of the family until 1987. About 1877 when Alfie failed to pass into The

Royal Military Academy, Woolwich The Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich, in south-east London, was a British Army military academy for the training of Officer (armed forces), commissioned officers of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers. It later also trained officers o ...

he was sent off to Australia where he tried his hand at farming. In 1881 he visited his uncle Henry Cox in Birkenhead. He was considered to be quite a determined person. In 1884, Alfie obtained a share in a mine at

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

playing cards with

George McCulloch George McCulloch (February 22, 1792 – April 6, 1861) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. George McCulloch was born in Maysville, Kentucky. Upon the death of his ...

. Following the discovery of silver he became a wealthy man and returned to London, where he indulged his love of horse racing as an owner and breeder, running his horses under the pseudonym of Mr Fairie. His horses, including Bramble, Peterhof,

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Bayardo Bayard may refer to: People *Bayard (given name) *Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places Antarctica * Bayard Islands, off the coast of Graham Land, Antarctica Canada * Bayard, Saskatchewa ...

and

Gay Crusader Gay Crusader (1914–14 September 1932) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who won a wartime version of the English Triple Crown in 1917. In a career which lasted from September 1916 to October 1917 he ran ten times and won eight rac ...

, were listed as starters in many races between 1887 and his death in 1919. Alfie did not marry and upon his death his fortune, consisting of money and his stables of racehorses, passed to his younger brother Alexander Robb Cox. Alfie's youngest brother Lieutenant Ernest Cox entered the army at the age of 23 in 1891 and joined the 72nd

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

. He died on 11 December 1899 at the

Battle of Magersfontein The Battle of MagersfonteinSpelt incorrectly in various English texts as "Majersfontein", "Maaghersfontein" and "Maagersfontein". ( ) was fought on 11 December 1899, at Magersfontein, near Kimberley, Northern Cape, Kimberley, South Africa, on t ...

during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. In 1898 Ernest had served in the Khartum expedition of the

Sudan Campaign The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...

as extra Aide-de-Camp to General

William Forbes Gatacre Lieutenant-General Sir William Forbes Gatacre (3 December 1843 – 18 January 1906) was a British soldier who served between 1862 and 1904 in India and various areas on the African continent. He commanded the British Army Division at the B ...

commanding the British Division.The Times, Wednesday 7 September 1898

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Alfred W British racehorse owners and breeders 1857 births 1919 deaths Owners of Epsom Derby winners