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George Addison Cox (1820 – 6 May 1899) was a Scottish engineer and industrialist closely associated with the Camperdown Works in Lochee, Dundee, one of the largest integrated jute manufacturing complexes of the 19th century.^[1] During the Industrial Revolution in Scotland, he was closely involved in the engineering design and mechanical organisation of the works, contributing to the growth of large-scale jute manufacturing in Dundee, then a major centre of the jute industry.

He oversaw the layout and installation of machinery at Camperdown Works, drawing on practical experience in mechanical design and mill engineering, and is credited with the engineering design of its landmark chimney, Cox’s Stack,^[2][3] which remains a prominent feature of the city’s industrial landscape.^[4]

Through George Addison Cox’s planning, engineering and supervision, the Camperdown Works grew to become the world’s largest jute factory.^[5][6]

Cox was born in Lochee in 1820, the youngest son of James Cock (later Cox) and Helen Scott.^[1] He later joined his brothers James, William and Thomas Hunter Cox in the family firm, which transitioned from linen to jute manufacture during the mid-nineteenth century.^[7] Another brother, Henry Cox, was generally resident in Calcutta to manage business interests there.^[8]

According to the Dictionary of Scottish Architects, the construction of completely new works at Lochee began in 1850 to Cox’s design, developed in consultation with Peter Carmichael of Baxter Brothers.^[4] The complex was planned as a single integrated manufacturing site, bringing together the full sequence of processes from raw jute to finished cloth.

Warden noted that the Camperdown Works of Cox Brothers were unusual in the district in carrying out the entire manufacturing process within a single works, with materials passing systematically between departments.^[9][10] This arrangement has been noted as a distinctive feature of the works.

By the 1870s the complex covered approximately thirty acres and employed several thousand workers.^[10] Its most prominent surviving feature is Cox’s Stack, an 86-metre (282 ft) chimney, now a Category A listed building.^[2] It has been described in listing commentary as one of the most distinguished industrial chimneys in Scotland, noted for its height and elaborate decorative design. The engineering design is attributed to Cox, with architectural detailing by the Dundee architect James MacLaren.^[11][4] There is a small bronze statue of Cox’s Stack on a plinth in Dundee High Street that was unveiled by Prince Charles in 1995.^[12]

An early twentieth-century account described George Addison Cox as “a qualified engineer” to whom “the entire control of the works was given”, noting that in each department “the impress of a master mind is apparent.”^[13] Warden also noted that works were laid out on a regular plan, allowing materials to pass efficiently from department to department.^[9]

In addition to his role in the management of Cox Brothers, he was responsible for much of the engineering design work associated with the development of the firm’s mills at Lochee. Contemporary descriptions credited him with overseeing the construction of the works and the installation of machinery used in the preparation, spinning and weaving of jute.^[14]

Cox patented several improvements to textile machinery during the mid-nineteenth century, including devices for winding yarn and machinery used in the preparation of jute and other fibrous materials. Also a patent for the invention of “Improvements in Carpets, sackings, Checks, bed-ticks or Tickings, and other similar Textile fabrics.”^[15][16]

One patent described improved mechanical arrangements for snipping, teasing, hackling, cutting and breaking jute, hemp and flax fibres in order to speed their preparation for spinning.^[17]

Other members of the Cox family, including his brother William Cox, also contributed to technical developments in textile machinery.^[18] These developments reflected the challenges of adapting machinery originally developed for flax and other fibres to the processing of jute.^[19][20]

He served as a justice of the peace^[21] and was later appointed deputy lieutenant of Dundee.^[22]

George Addison Cox married Eliza Methven (1827–1872) in 1848. She was the daughter of David Methven. According to Burke (1897),^[23] the couple had seven children: six sons and one daughter. Their children included James Cox; David Methven Cox; George Methven Cox; Alfred William Cox; Charles Thomas Cox; Edmund Connel Cox; and Jessie Methven Cox (6 July 1854 – 30 November 1928), who married Dr William Thomson (later known as Dr William Sinclair Thomson) on 6 October 1875 in Dundee.^[24][25][26]

George’s fifth son, Charles Thomas Cox (c.1865–1948), was the subject of a Court of Session succession case, after his death, concerning the interpretation of his will, in which the court held that children conceived but not yet born at the time of his death were entitled to inherit under the terms of the settlement.^[27]

Cox died at Tunbridge Wells on 6 May 1899.^[1]

• YouTube video – Camperdown Works. Dr Kenneth Baxter takes a look at an interesting and important drawing of Dundee’s famous Camperdown Works which is held by the University of Dundee Archive Services.
• Domesday Reloaded Camperdown Works Dundee 1986 Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• Cox Brothers Ltd, Jute Spinners and Manufacturers, and Cox Family Papers at University of Dundee Archive Services
• Cox Brothers, Jute Spinners and Manufactures, Dundee at University of Dundee Archive Services