Joseph Mason Cox

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Joseph Mason Cox (1763–1818) was an early nineteenth century English physician whose entire professional career was devoted to care and treatment of mentally ill people. Born in Bristol, the son of John Cox, he was apprenticed to a surgeon-apothecary around 1778. In 1783, he became an apprentice to James Padmore Noble, a surgeon to the Bristol Infirmary. The next year, he began to study medicine in London, followed by studies in Edinburgh, Scotland; in Paris, France; and in Leiden, Netherlands, where he received his medical degree in 1787. His thesis was titled “De Mania.”

Cox’s maternal grandfather owned Fishponds, a lunatic asylum near Bristol. The asylum had been established about 1738 and came to the elder Cox’s ownership about 1760. The elder Cox maintained the asylum until his death in 1779. His two daughters succeeded him as owners, and when one daughter died, John Cox and the surviving daughter became the owners. When John died in 1788, Joseph took over the asylum and managed it until his death in 1818. Fishponds continued to serve as an asylum until 1859.