(Irwin) Edward Bainbridge Cox, JP, DL, who used the pen-name I.E.B.C. (9 July 1838 – 27 August 1922) was a British Barrister, magazine proprietor and politician. He served as a Unionist Member of Parliament for Harrow at the beginning of the Twentieth Century.

Early career

Cox was born in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, the son of

Edward William Cox Edward William Cox known as Serjeant Cox (1809–1879) was an English lawyer and legal writer, who was also a successful publisher. He has been described as "the greatest entrepreneur of 'class' journalism". Early life Cox was born in Taunton, ...

who was a Serjeant-at-law and who served as Member of Parliament for

from 1868 to 1869. He attended

Magdalene College Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

where he read law; afterwards he studied for the Bar, and was called by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1864.

Family connections

Initially, Cox assisted his father who ran the '' Law Times'' newspaper, and later took over the management of his father's properties (he was Lord of the Manor of Taunton, and owned about 2,000 acres). His father died in 1879 and he took over permanently, moving to the home he inherited at Moat Mount,

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross, close to the Hertfordshire border. It was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it b ...

, Middlesex. His wife, whom he married in 1865, was the daughter of the Vicar of Mill Hill.

Recreations

Cox had many recreations, including

angling Angling (from Old English ''angol'', meaning "hook") is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated with a fishing rod, although rodless te ...

(he owned a first edition of

Izaak Walton Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'' (1653), he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been ...

's "The Compleat Angler") and shooting; at Moat Mount, he began to conserve game for shooting. Among those who visited to enjoy the sport was Sir

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

. Developing the family newspaper business, Cox also became proprietor of '' The Field'', and also edited the annual Angler's Diary under the initials "I.E.B.C.".

Politics

When it was established in 1889, Cox was elected to

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

County Council as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

, and became an

Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in 1901. He enjoyed local government and was High Sheriff of the county for the year 1898 to 1899, also becoming a Deputy Lieutenant. Meanwhile, he was Chairman of the Petty Sessional Division of Gore from 1894. When the sitting Member of Parliament for Harrow, William Ambrose, was appointed a Judge, Cox was unanimously selected to follow him. Although standing as a Conservative, Cox pledged to vote against the Conservative government's Street Traffic Bill which regulated bus transport. Cox won the election despite an energetic challenge from the Liberal candidate.

Parliament

Cox was a self-described "strong supporter of Mr. Balfour's government", and he also went along with

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal Party (UK), Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually was a leading New Imperialism, imperial ...

's campaign for tariff reform. However, Cox did not entirely enjoy Parliamentary life; although re-elected at the 1900 general election, no speech by him in the House of Commons is recorded. He announced in 1904 his decision to stand down before the next election and his name rarely appears in Division Lists after then. He went back to writing books on angling and shooting, and also hosted fox hunting. Cox died in 1922 at the age of 84.

Works edited

* The Angler's Diary: or, Forms for Registering the Fish Taken During the Year; to which is Prefixed, a List of Fishing Stations in England - The Angler's Diary and Tourist Fisherman's Gazetteer (pub. 1866–1921) * The Shooter's Diary: or, Forms for Registering Game Killed During the Year; to Which is Prefixed, a List of Some of the Principal Shooting Districts in the World (pub. Horace Cox, 1867–79) * Facts and Useful Hints Relating to Fishing and Shooting: Being a Collection of Various Methods for Capturing Birds, Beasts, Vermin, and Fish; Together with a Great Variety of Recipes of all Kinds Useful to the Fisherman and Sportsman he Field Library, Vol. I(pub. Horace Cox, 1866) * The Country House: A Collection of Useful Information and Recipes. Adapted to the Country Gentleman and his Household, and of the Greatest Utility to the Housekeeper Generally he Field Library, Vol. II(pub. Horace Cox, 1866) * The Farm, Garden, Stable, and Aviary: to Which is Added some Useful Information Relating to the Poultry-Yard, Bee-Keeping, and Natural History he Field Library, Vol. III(pub. Horace Cox, 1866)

References

*Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 30 August 1922 *''Who was Who'', A & C Black *M. Stenton and S. Lees, "Who's Who of British MPs" Vol. II (Harvester Press, 1978)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Irwin 1838 births 1922 deaths Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in Greater London Deputy lieutenants of Middlesex High sheriffs of Middlesex UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 People from Taunton Members of Middlesex County Council