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James Willox (1797 - 1847)

James Willox [Wilcox] was a native of Aberdeen, Scotland.

He came to Fredericton in about 1817, and two years later married Margaret King. James was a founding member of the Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew, and was one of the organising “stewards” for the Feast of Saint Andrew in 1828. He was also one of the founding members of St Paul’s Church, and served as a founding trustee. 

James was a leather merchant and saddler in Fredericton. His business was located on Queen Street, across from the present-day Lord Beaverbrook Hotel, and the Willox family lived next door. He prospered, and in 1839 owned 25 acres on Maryland Hill, 200 acres in Hanwell Settlement, and 100 acres in the Parish of Woodstock in Carleton County. He also owned shares in the “splendid steamer" New Brunswick, which plied the river St John between Fredericton and Saint John from 1839 to 1848. 

By 1845, passengers wishing to travel by stagecoach to Boiestown or Newcastle could book their reservations at Mr. Willox’s store on Queen Street; alternatively they could do the same at Robert Irwin’s Hotel and Tavern on Regent. Irwin's Hotel is where the Society held their Feast of Saint Andrew dinner in 1846, and their street sign rests in the collection of the Fredericton Region Museum. 
Robert Irwin's tavern sign, 1848; Collection of the Fredericton Region Museum, 1984.42.1A

By the 1840s the Willox family lived in a luxurious home on the corner of Regent and Charlotte Streets. Their property included a large and well cultivated garden, as well as “Ornamental Ground – a neat and substantial Cottage – with extensive and convenient Offices, all in excellent keeping, and offering a most genteel and pleasant residence.” 

James Willox and his daughter are buried in section 6 of the Old Burying Ground. Their gravestone is now illegible, but reads: 

[Masonic Emblem]
In this place is deposited
the body of James Willox,
a native of Aberdeen in
 Scotland, who died at
Fredericton on the 30th
day of March, 1847 in
the 50th year of his age. 

Cecilia Elizabeth, wife
of James Naish, a daughter
of the late James Willox,
who died 9th Dec. 1852
aged 26 years.
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