Family of John Cox Sr. (1847-1906)

John Cox II(1870-1940), emigrated to America in 1891, married Winifred Cooney and fathered Margaret F. (Cox) Hennessy and Mary C. (Cox) Schoenherr.  He was born in Derbyshire, England, the son of John Cox Sr. and Sophia Bolton

John Cox Sr. (1847-1906) was born in Belton, Leicestershire England the son of Edward Cox, b. abt 1820, and Mary (Waters) Cox, (1820- 1848)

Mary and Edward were married in April of 1840 in Loughborough, Leicestershire.  Their first child, Hannah Cox, was born in 1840 in Leicestershire.  The 1841 English census shows Edward, Mary and 6 mo. old Hannah living in Belton, Leicestershire with Mary's family including her father, Sampson Waters (1788-1871), her stepmother, Sarah, and her four siblings.  Edward Cox and Sampson Waters both worked as Framework Knitters.  Later, Sarah and older children also worked as Glove makers and stitchers. 

Mary and Edward's second child, John Cox Sr. was born in 1847 in Belton.  A year later, in August of 1848, his sister Hannah died at only 8 years old.  His mother Mary also died in 1848 at 28 years old.  The cause of their deaths is unknown.  I have not been able to determine if Edward died or if he remarried. It appears that John was raised by his grandparents.  In 1851, the census shows 3 yr. old John Cox living in Castle Donnington, Leicestershire with Sampson and Sarah Waters along with his Uncle Enoch (25) and Aunt Sarah (20).  Then, at the age of 14, John went to work as a Servant in Whitwick, Oaks Church, Leicestershire in the house of Marmaduke Shields, Fundholder and Farmer. In 1869, at 22 yrs. old, John married Sophia Bolton and began their family.  See earlier post -John Cox II and Sophia Bolton- for more information.

John's mother, Mary (Waters) Cox was the daughter of Sampson Waters(1788-1871) and Ann (Worstall) Waters (1778-1820) who were married in Leicesters on July 27, 1807.  They had 3 daughters, Elizabeth born in 1808, Charlotte in 1810 and Mary in 1820.  Ann (Worstall) Waters passed away in February of 1820 of unknown cause. Sampson married Sarah (Wheldon) Waters on Aug. 11, 1822 and proceeded to have 4 more children, Enoch, Ann, Sampson Jr. and Sarah.  Sarah (Wheldon) Waters is not biologically related to John Cox Sr. but helped raise him.

John's grandfather, Sampson Waters(1788-1871) was born in Leicestershire, the son of John and Hannah Waters.  He was baptized at St. John the Baptist church on June 17, 1789 in Belton.

John's biological grandmother, Anne (Worstal or Worstall) Waters was born in 1778 in Derbyshire, the daughter of James and Ann (Sims) Worstal/Worstall.  Anne passed away in February of 1820 in Leicestershire.  No additional information is known about the Worstal/Worstall family.