A philanthropist, diarist, and artist, Fox was the daughter of Robert Were Fox the Younger and Maria Barclay.
Fox is considered to be the progenitor of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society. With her sister Caroline, she published writings, Italian translations, and some Bible stories re-told.
With her siblings, Fox was inspired to form the Cornwall Polytechnic Society in 1833 at Falmouth. By 1835, the society had become the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic established for the encouragement of the Sciences, Arts, and Industry. The institution facilitated exhibitions, academic papers, and annual reports and proceedings.
Around the Fox sisters spun a rich intellectual and social life, reported to us through Caroline Fox's extant diary and correspondence. Their lives were filled with friends important to the construction of the cultural identity of the region, as well as women and men of the anti-slavery movement, the Quaker faith, hospitals, schools, music, and arts. This included notable people such as Wordsworth, John Stuart Mill, and the Carlyles.
Notes of Fox's prize winning illustrations at Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society exhibitions can be found in the Annual Reports of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society from 1835-1841.
