Charles Elliot Fox
Quick Facts
Biography
Charles Elliot Fox CBE (26 September 1878 – 28 October 1977) was an Anglican missionary and teacher in Melanesia.
Fox was born in Stalbridge, Dorset, England, and educated in New Zealand, graduating Master of Arts from Auckland University College in 1901.He received a degree in theology from St John's College, Auckland in 1902, joined the Anglican Melanesian Mission in 1903 and was ordained the same year.
Around 1924, Fox worked on a dictionary and grammar of the Arosi language of Makira (formerly San Cristobal) in the Solomon Island (ISBN 0858831708), and the Lau language of Malaita (ISBN 0858831015).He also wrote "Beliefs and Tales of San Cristobal" in 1915, later translated and printed in J Royal Anthropological Inst.
In 1932, Fox declined the post of Bishop of the Melanesian Missionary Church. In the same year he was admitted to the Melanesian Brotherhood.
In the 1974 New Year Honours, Fox was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for humanitarian services, particularly in the Solomon Islands. He died in New Zealand in 1977, aged 99 years.