The Salmon-Cox family name is intriguing. Jacob Salmon-Cox was the third son of Susan Salmons who married Jacob Cox in 1852. He was baptised in Barton Turf in 1842 as Jacob Salmon and no father was recorded on the baptism register. The 1851 census shows Susan, unmarried housekeeper, living with Jacob Cox. Her sons Henry and Jacob Salmons are shown as lodgers. By 1861 Susan is shown as Susannah Cox, wife married, and Jacob as Jacob Cox, son unmarried. Jacob married Pamela Yaxley in 1865 and the marriage register shows him as Jacob Salmons alias Cox. The 1871 census records him as Jacob Salmons. By 1881 he was Jacob Salmons Cox, but by 1891 he was back to being known as Jacob Salmons. The 1901 census shows him as Jacob Salmon-Cox, as he was when he died in 1903.

We have traced 29 descendants of Jacob and Pamela of whom 17 have either the Salmon-Cox or Cox name.

Census records up to 1861 show Jacob Cox as a farm worker, but in 1871 he is recorded as a boatman and in 1881 as a master boatman. In 1861 and 1871 Jacob Salmon-Cox is a boatwright, in 1881 a boat builder and a boatwright again in 1901. Jacob and Pamela had four sons: Jacob and Herbert followed their father and became boatwrights, Joseph became a blacksmith and Frederick is shown in the 1901 census as a carter. The boat building business became Cox’s Boatyard and Frederick’s business developed into a coalyard. Both businesses were continued by family members.