Rev. Octavus Fox M.A.

Records

Octavus Fox (Rev) 1810–1881
Born: 24th August, 1810 - Clapton, Middlesex.
Died: 5th August, 1881 -  Folkestone, Kent.

Octavus Fox was born on the 24th August, 1810, in Clapton, Berkshire, the son of William Fox and Harriet Hall. He married Maria Elizabeth Sheppard in October 1852 in Worcester. He died on the 5th August, 1881, in Folkestone, Kent, at the age of 70.

Birth: 24 Aug 1810; Clapton, Middlesex.
Residence: 1841; College Precincts, Worcestershire, schoolmaster. [his mother Harriet was living with him]
Residence: 1851; College Precincts, Worcestershire, MA Clergyman without cure of souls; headmaster of Grammar School.
Marriage: October 1852; Worcester.
Residence: 1861; The Rectory, Knightwick, Worcestershire, Rector of Knightwick, with wife and mother-in-law.
Residence: 1871; Knightwick, Worcestershire.
Residence: 3rd April, 1881; Knightwick, Worcestershire, rector; with wife.
Death: 5th August, 1881; Folkestone, Kent, [aged 70] late of Knightwick Rectory; probate to widow Maria Elizabeth of the Hill House, near Worcester.

15th November, 1881 - The will of the Reverend Octavus Fox late of Knightwick Rectory in the County of Worcester Clerk who died 5th August, 1881 at Folkestone in the county of Kent was proved at Worcester by Maria Elizabeth Fox of trhe Hill House near the City of Worcester in the said county Widow the relict the sole Executrix. [Personal estate £2,525 10s 11d]

Octavus Fox owned the freehold land of 'The Glebe' at Knightwick.

Maria Elizabeth Sheppard 1821–1891
Birth: 1821 -  Worcestershire.
Died 15th May, 1891 - Henwick Grange, Worcester.
When Maria Elizabeth Sheppard was born in 1821 in Worcestershire; her father, James, [a surgeon] was 30, and her mother, Maria, was 29. She married Octavus Fox in October 1852 in Worcester. She died onthe 15th May, 1891, in Worcester, at the age of 70.

Birth: abt 1821; Worcestershire.
Parents: James Pook Sheppard & Maria Allies
Residence: 1841; St Nicholas, Worcester.
Residence: 1851; St Nicholas, Worcester.
Marriage: October 1852; Worcester.
Residence: 1861; Knightwick, Worcestershire; mother with them.
Residence: 1871; Knightwick, Worcestershire, with husband, Rector of Knightwick.
Residence: 1881; Knightwick, Worcestershire.
Marital Status: Married; Relationship to Head, Wife.
Residence: 3 April, 1891; South Hallow, Worcestershire, England, Death: 15 May 1891; Henwick Grange, Worcester; probate to 3 brothers.

Life Events

Birth of sister
Her sister Ellen Agnes was born in 1826 in Worcestershire, when Maria Elizabeth was 5 years old.

Birth of brother
Her brother Charles Edward was born in 1831 in Worcestershire, when Maria Elizabeth was 10 years old.

Maria Elizabeth Sheppard lived in Worcestershire, in 1841. St Nicholas, Worcester, when she was 20 years old.

Maria Elizabeth Sheppard lived in Worcester, in 1851. St Nicholas, Worcester, when she was 30 years old.

Maria Elizabeth Sheppard married Octavus Fox in Worcester, in October 1852 when she was 31 years old.

Maria Elizabeth Sheppard lived in Knightwick, Worcestershire, in 1861, with her husband Rev. Octavus Fox, and her mother.

Maria Elizabeth Sheppard lived in Knightwick, Worcestershire, in 1871, with her husband, Rector of Knightwick, Octavus Fox.

Her husband Octavus passed away on the 5th August, 1881, in Folkestone, Kent, at the age of 70. They had been married 28 years.

1891, Maria lived at, South Hallow, Worcestershire.

Maria Elizabeth Sheppard died on the 15th May, 1891, at Henwick Grange, Worcester, when she was 70 years old.
Probate to 3 brothers

14th July 1891 - The Will of Maria Elizabeth Fox late of Henwick Grange near Worcester in the county of Worcester Widow who died 15th may 1891 at Henwick Grange was proved at the principal Registry by James Henry Sheppard of Ulcombe Lodge Clevedon in the County of Somerset Esquire Edgar Sheppard of Talbot Mansions Museum-street in the County of Middlesex Physician and George Alfred Sheppard of 37 Foregate-street in the City of Worcester Surgeon the brothers Executors.
[Personal Estate £2,138 3s 6d. Resworn June 1892 £3,108 3s 6d]

Birth Registartion of Octavus Fox

St. Mary the Virgin, Knightwick. [Now closed and sold as a house]

The Worcester Chronicle and Provincial Railway Gazette. - 7th June, 1854.

NEW CHURCH FOR KNIGHTWICK AND DODENHAM

The business of laying the chief stone, though conducted in a very simple manner, without any attempt to add any interest to the event beyond what naturally belonged to so solemn a ceremony, nevertheless drew together a considerable portion of the population of the neighbourhood.

The company consisted of the principal parishioners with their families, the churchwardens, a few clergymen, and visitors from the neighbourhood. The school children, male and female, each bearing a large bouquet of flowers, occupied the front rank of the spectators.

The rector of the parish, the Rev. Octavius Fox, took position near the place where the stone was to be laid, having near him the architect and the master mason. The rector then read the service appointed for laying the foundation-stone of a church. On arriving at a point in the service where the order directs that the stone shall be laid, the rector proceeded to perform that portion of the ceremony. A cavity had been cut in a stone in the foundation, and within this opening was placed a glass tube, hermetically sealed, containing a parchment with the following inscription :—

" To the honour of the most Blessed and Holy Trinity, and after the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the first stone of this church, henceforth to be the parish church of the one parish of Knightwick and Dodenham, was laid on the first day of June, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and fifty-four,
" By me, OCTAVIUS FOX, M.A., Rector of the said Parish.
" JOHN SMITH WALKER, " EDWARD SOUTHHALL, Churchwardens.
"ABRAHAM EDWARD PERKINS, Architect."

St. Mary and St. Andrew, Mortuary Chapel, Knightwick.

*St. Nicholas, Worcester. [Image credit: Worcester City Museums]

Marriage Certificate of Octavus Fox and Maria Elizabeth Sheppard [At *St. Nicholas, Worcester - see above painting]