The funeral of William Cox

William Cox was born in the village in 1850 and worked at the Timber Yard. He married May Ann Henwood in 1876 and they had seven children. Mary Ann died in 1909 and William continued to live at number 19 in the Street with daughter Emily and sons Gilbert and William George until his death, after a short but severe illness, on 17 July 1914.

In the parish magazine, the Rector wrote: “He will be much missed especially at the Harvest Home where his congenial smile, as he returned time after time to take up his prize-money, proved most infectious - while his sturdy figure was always conspicuous at the end of the rope in the tug-of-war”.

He was for many years coachman to the Clerk of the Works and a founder member of the Englefield Fire Brigade in 1894 as driver of the village fire engine. His funeral on 20 July 1914 was attended by 42 firemen in full uniform, comprising contingents from Newbury, Pangbourne, Mortimer and a full muster of the Englefield Fire Brigade under their Captain Mr H Stanley Davis. The coffin was carried by his fireman colleagues and there is a pictorial record of the funeral procession from his home to the church and then to the grave.