Sir Stephen Fox
| Sir Stephen Fox | |
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_by_John_James_Baker.jpg)
Portrait by John James Baker at the Royal Hospital Chelsea
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
27 March 1627 Farley, Wiltshire |
| Died | 28 October 1716 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Whittle Christiana Hope |
| Children | 14 children including Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st Earl of Ilchester Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland |
Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) was an English politician.
Stephen Fox was the son of William Fox, of Farley, in Wiltshire, a yeoman farmer.
Stephen was a Chorister of Salisbury Cathedral (c.1634 – c.1640) (Noted in John Evelyn’s Diary as ‘…a poore boy from the quire of Salisbury’ ).
At the age of fifteen he first obtained a post in the household of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland; then he entered the service of Lord Percy, the earl's brother, and was present with the royalist army at the Battle of Worcester as Lord Percy's deputy at the ordnance board. Accompanying Charles II in his flight to the continent, he was appointed manager of the royal household, on the recommendation of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. Clarendon described him as "a young man bred under the severe discipline of Lord Percy ... very well qualified with languages, and all other parts of clerkship, honesty and discretion".
The skill with which Fox managed the finances of the exiled court earned him further confidence and promotion. He was employed on several important missions, and acted eventually as intermediary between the king and General Monck. Honours and emolument were his reward after the Restoration; he was appointed to the lucrative offices of first Clerk of the Green Cloth and Paymaster of the Forces.
In November 1661, he became member of parliament for Salisbury. In 1665 he was knighted; was returned as MP 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 1680 he resigned the paymastership and was made first commissioner of horse. In 1684, he became sole commissioner of horse.
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