From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cox & Kings is the longest established travel company in the world, its history stretching back to 1758 when Richard Cox was appointed as regimental agent to the Foot Guards. Cox & Kings is now an independent tour company with offices in the Australia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, India, the United States and Japan. Its global headquarters are in Lon
don. History
Richard Cox, the founder
Cox was born in Yorkshire in 1718. His father, Joshua, had made a good living as a lawyer and had moved from his birthplace in Clent in Worcestershire to Yorkshire. He then bought an estate near Quarley in Hampshire. Richard Cox came into the service of the English General, Lord Ligonier, as a clerk in the early 1740s. In 1747 he married Caroline Codrington, daughter of Sir William Codrington who was an established military figure. Cox's career took off when Lord Ligonier led the Flanders campaigns of the War of the Austrian Succession. In one letter sent back to London, Richard Cox makes a demand that “suitable winter provisions and housing should be made available for the three English companies” and he became entwined with logistics and the general welfare of the troops. Ligonier made Cox his private secretary in the late 1740s, went on to become the Colonel of the First Foot Guards (Grenadier Guards) in 1757, and rewarded Cox with the post of 'military agent' after the incumbent died in May 1758. Thus was born Cox & Co, the forebear of Cox & Kings.
