Our speaker on the 4th October was Deborah Scriven who gave us a talk entitled.
Deborah used a variety of sources, including Ancestry, newspapers and websites to tell Joseph’s
story; she also used school log books and urged us to use them for our own research when we
could due to the rich source of information they contain.
Joseph was born in November 1833 at Holme upon Spalding Moor, the son of an agricultural
labourer, John Cox and his wife Jane and had several siblings. He was educated at the National
School in the village with possibly a period studying at a private academy; at the time teacher
training was mainly carried out on the job but at some point he did become a certified teacher.
His first appointment was Head of a village school near Selby, then a school at Eastrington, near
Howden where he met his wife Sarah, the daughter of the local blacksmith. They married in
August 1857.
Deborah informed us that in the summer of 1859, the Cox family (Joseph and Sarah and two
children) left the East Riding for Ossett, where a further 12 children were born, 11 surviving into
adulthood. Apart from a short break they lived in Ossett for the rest of their lives. At the time of the
move Joseph was 25 and took up the post of headmaster of the newly built South Ossett Church of
England School. He was to remain in this post for nearly 40 years and Deborah was able to use
the log books to illustrate what life was like in the school and how they demonstrated Joseph’s care
for his pupils. They also give us an insight into his long days, having to teach not only the children
but the pupil teachers, complaining in 1870 about them cheating in exams and not studying
sufficiently.
In 1864 there was a serious outbreak of scarletina in the school and by the end of the outbreak
several children had died, including two of his own.
A number of Joseph and Sarah’s children became pupil teachers in the school and later fully
fledged teachers; Sarah taught needlework to the girls. There was a close relationship between
the church who ran the school and the incumbents of South Ossett Church, one of whom
described Joseph as a ‘most valuable and trustworthy servant and friend’ and a right hand man,
assisting with administration and accounts.
Joseph retired in 1899; his certificate from the Education Department having expired. He was able
to take a pension of £40 per annum. In 1879 he had been elected to the Local Board, eventually
became chairman and continued to be re elected until he retired in 1902, having served 23 years.
On the incorporation of the Borough in 1890 he was one of the elected auditors but resigned in
1892 in order to stand for election to the Town Council for the East Ward. Subsequently he
became a magistrate and Alderman, being nominated and adopted as Mayor unanimously. He
regarded this as the high point of his public career and on 24 June 1897 he was one of around 500
Mayors and Chairmen of County Councils who attended a reception held by the Queen at
Buckingham Palace in her Diamond Jubilee year. He retired in 1897.
Deborah showed us an image of Joseph in court dress but Roger Hepworth, a descendant of
Joseph’s had brought in the real thing for us all to have a look at.
Joseph died in September 1906 aged 72, his cause of death was apparently old age! Sarah died
almost exactly one year later and they are both buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard. The talk came
to a close with Deborah saying it was difficult to sum up the life and character of a man only
encountered in documents and images but she did get a strong impression of a kind-hearted but
hard working and dedicated man, who wanted the best for his pupils and the public he served.
