Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) was an English politician who rose from humble origins to become the "richest commoner in the three kingdoms". He made the foundation of his wealth from his tenure of the newly created office of Paymaster-General of His Majesty's Forces, which he held twice, in 1661–1676 and 1679–1680. He was the principal force of inspiration behind the founding of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, to which he contributed £13,000 ().

Early life

thumb|[[Canting arms of Fox: Ermine, on a chevron azure three fox's heads and necks erased or on a canton of the second a fleur-de-lys of the third. The canton is an augmentation of honour to his paternal arms, granted out of the Royal Arms as a mark of esteem to him and his heirs forever, by king Charles II following the Restoration of the Monarchy]]

thumb|"Fox's Hospital", Farley, an [[almshouse founded by Sir Stephen Fox]]

thumb|Mural monument to Sir Stephen Fox and his second wife in the [[Earl of Ilchester|Ilchester Chapel of All Saints Church, Farley. Unusually the inscription is in French, in which language he was proficient, reflecting the time he spent in France with the exiled King Charles II. He built the church c. 1688–90, to the design of Sir Christopher Wren and effected by master mason Alexander Fort. He is called on it the fondateur de céans "founder of this place"]]

Stephen Fox was sixth but fourth surviving son of William Fox, of Farley, Wiltshire, a yeoman farmer, by his wife Elizabeth Pavey, a daughter of Thomas Pavy of Plaitford, Hampshire. His eldest surviving brother was John Fox (1611–1691), Clerk of the Acatry to King Charles II. Stephen's sister was Jane Fox (1639–1710), who married Nicholas Johnson (died 1682), who was Paymaster-General of His Majesty's Forces

The king established a new office of Paymaster of the Forces, of which Fox was the first occupant, with premises in a wing of Horseguards in Whitehall. His success in restoring the financial position of the army stemmed from his ability to raise credit in the City of London, largely thanks to his reputation for honesty and reliability, which would later be repaid to him by the Treasury, when Parliament so voted. The yield from bills passed to this effect were often below that forecast, which in the absence of loans would leave the troops unpaid. Fox, however, was personally liable for the loans he raised, and to compensate him for the great risks he undertook, he was allowed to retain certain profits on his repayment by the Treasury. He charged the Treasury 6% on the funds he had borrowed, but much of that he repaid to his own creditors.

He was allowed other perquisites, including 2% bonus on capital and interest repaid to him by the Treasury, and "poundage" from 1667 which allowed him to retain 4 pence, and from 1668 one shilling, in every pound of army pay, ostensibly to cover administration costs, but in reality mostly profit. This therefore amounted to one twentieth of all army pay, an annual income for Fox of about £7,000, added to his official salary of £400 per annum, and whatever he could save from borrowing at rates below 6%. In just 20 months from January 1665 to September 1666 he advanced a total of £221,000 for army pay, on repayment of which he received interest from the Treasury of almost £13,000. In addition he received a further 2% bonus, worth another £3,000 and also poundage. This office he held for 15 years between 1661 and 1676, and for another year in 1679–1680.

Political career

In November 1661 he became a Member of Parliament for Salisbury. In 1665 he was knighted; was returned as a Member of Parliament for Westminster on 27 February 1679, and succeeded the Earl of Rochester as a Commissioner of the Treasury, filling that office for twenty-three years and during three reigns. In 1672 he bought the manor of Redlynch in Somerset, where he built a new house in 1708–1709.

In 1680 he resigned the paymastership and was made First Commissioner of Horse. In 1684 he became sole Commissioner of Horse. He was offered a peerage by King James II, on condition of converting to Roman Catholicism, but refused, in spite of which he was allowed to retain his commissionerships. In 1685 he was again an MP for Salisbury, and opposed the bill for a standing army supported by the king. During the Glorious Revolution, he maintained an attitude of decent reserve, but on James's flight, he submitted to the new King William III, who confirmed him in his offices. He was again elected for Westminster in 1691 and 1695, for Cricklade in 1698, and finally in 1713 once more for Salisbury.

It is his distinction to have founded Royal Hospital Chelsea, to which he contributed £13,000. As a statesman he was second-rate, but as a public servant he creditably discharged all the duties with which he was entrusted. Unlike some other statesmen of his day, he grew rich in the service of the nation without being suspected of corruption or forfeiting the esteem of his contemporaries.

Marriages and children

Fox married twice:

thumb|Mural monument to Elizabeth Whittle (d.1696), first wife of Sir Stephen Fox, in the Ilchester Chapel of Farley Church

  • Firstly on 8 December 1651, at the age of 24, to Elizabeth Whittle (died 11 August 1696), a daughter of William Whittle of the City of London, whose mural monument with bust survives in the Ilchester Chapel of Farley Church. His niece Margaret Fox (buried on 22 June 1729), a daughter of his elder brother John, also married a member of the Whittle family. His mural monument survives in the Ilchester Chapel of Farley Church.
  • Edward Fox (1663–1669), 4th son, died aged six, buried with his brother John Fox in Westminster Abbey, where survives his gravestone in the cloisters inscribed: Here lie interred two Children of the right Worshipful Sir Stephen Fox of Farley in the County of Wilts Knight, viz. Edward Fox, his fourth Son, aged six years and one month, who died on the nineteenth day of Octob. 1669. and John Fox his sixth son of the age of one year, who deceased upon the seventeenth day of Novemb. in the year of our Lord 1667.
  • James Fox (1665–1677), 5th son, died of smallpox ("Here below is situated, near the ashes of his three brothers Edward, John and Stephen, the most select youth James Fox, the fifth-born son of the Hon. Sir Stephen Fox, Knight, and of his wife Elizabeth, parents to son and son to parents most worthy.... He was a man even while he was a child and an Hercules both in his cradle and at his death").
  • John Fox (1666–1667), 6th son, died aged one, as recorded on his gravestone in Westminster Abbey.
  • Stephen Fox (died October 1675),
  • Jane Fox (died 10 June 1721), wife of George Compton, 4th Earl of Northampton.
  • 3rd daughter, died young.
  • Secondly on 11 July 1703, aged 76, he married Christiana Hope (died 17 February 1718), a daughter of Rev. Francis Hope, Rector of Aswarby, Lincolnshire,

Residences and estates

Fox had the following residences and estates:

  • Farley, Wiltshire, his paternal estate and burial place.
  • The manor of Plaitford, Hampshire, purchased in 1679 from its lord, Richard Compton, which remained a possession of his descendants until 1911 when it was sold to its tenants by Giles Fox-Strangways, 6th Earl of Ilchester.

thumb|Fox's house in Chiswick, depicted in 1807

  • Chiswick, Middlesex, to the west of London, where in 1682–1686, at a cost of £7,117 4s 3d, he built a house described in 1725 by Daniel Defoe as "the flower of all the private gentlemens' palaces in England". Fox had purchased at first, in 1663, only two acres for £1,797 13s., on which stood a house having 18 hearths, which he demolished, next to the large Jacobean Chiswick House, then owned by the Duke of Monmouth, but which was later acquired by the 1st Earl of Burlington in 1682. In 1666 he purchased more adjoining land from the Duke of Monmouth for stables, and in 1685 he purchased the lease of the prebendal manor of Chiswick, comprising a further 140 acres. The gardens were much admired by King William III as recorded by Daniel Defoe, who wrote as follows regarding "Sir Stephen Fox's gardens at Istleworth" (i.e. Chiswick):

:After Fox's death in 1716 it was sold to the Countess of Northampton, the mother-in-law of Fox's daughter Jane.

  • Fox's Hospital, Farley, an almshouse with schoolroom, 1688–1690, by Alexander Fort, Joiner to His Majesty's Office of Works. Total cost £1835.8s.8d. Established for six poor women, with a master, and a free-school, the master to be a clergyman, and to officiate in the church. Continues to operate as a charity. A stone tablet below a broken pediment containing a bust of a winged putto, affixed to the external wall above the central doorway, is inscribed in Latin as follows

::Deo Opt(imo) Max(imo) bonarum omnium largitori isthoc quantulumcumque grati animi monumentum acceptum refert scholae huius et ptochotrophii fundator humilis gratabundus Anno Salutis reparatae MDCLXXXI quid tibi divitiae prosunt quas congeris hospes solas quas dederis semper habebis opes.

:("To God, most good, most great, liberal giver of all (things) good, of a thankful soul the humble and fully-grateful founder gives back what is received this how unimportant monument of this school and place for maintaining the poor restored in the Year of Salvation 1681. For what are riches useful to you, you will bring together a guest/stranger, what thou hast given alone shall be eternal riches unto thee" (last sentence from Epigrams of Martial, XLII (solas quas dederis semper habebis opes))

  • A contribution of £13,000 towards the building of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
  • In 1698, Fox built Manor Farm House in Chiswick, to replace the previous manor house on Chiswick Mall (which is shown on a map in Warwick Draper's book). It was southeast of Chiswick House, roughly where Edensor Gardens are today. The map names it "Sir Stephen Fox’s 1st house". Fox was the lord of Chiswick's prebendal manor at the time. The house survived until 1896 when it was demolished to build Wilton Avenue. Some of the wall of the farm exists today as garden walls in Manor Alley. Almost next door to it on the Sulhamstead Estate is a modern block of flats called Stephen Fox House.

Death and burial

Fox died on 28 October 1716, aged 89, at his house in Chiswick. He was buried in the Church he rebuilt at Farley, where survives his mural monument. He left assets with an estimated value of over £174,000.