Henry Fox (sportsman)

Henry Fox was born on 30 September 1856 as the second son of Dillworth Crewdson and Mary Augusta. He was educated at Sherborne School. His family owned Fox Brothers, of which he became a partner. In 1874, he founded Wellington Rugby Football Club. Three years later, he became the honorary secretary, treasurer and captain of the Somerset county rugby football team upon its formation. He was captain in both 1877 and 1878, playing as a three-quarter back, and remained secretary and treasurer until 1882. After retiring from the game, he continued as an umpire. Fox appeared in his final match in 1887, officiating the game between Somerset and Yorkshire. In June 1882, he was part of the Somerset team that competed in first-class cricket for the first time, losing by an innings and 157 runs to Lancashire; Fox scored no runs in either innings, and did not bowl. He made two further first-class appearances that season, and did not appear for Somerset again, due to business engagements. In all, he scored sixteen runs in first-class matches for Somerset at an average of 2.66. He was a very experienced alpine climber, and often climbed without guides, ascending Aiguille du Dru, Fletschhorn, Ober Gabelhorn amongst others in this fashion. With guides, he climbed some of the toughest mountains in the Alps, such as the Matterhorn and the Eiger. ==Death in the Caucasus Mountains==

Fox left Wellington in late July 1888 The Times reported on 6 October that Donkin and Fox, along with their guides, had suffered a mountaineering accident that had led "to the almost certain loss of four lives". Multiple searches were carried out, including one on the direct order of Tsar Alexander III, but no evidence was found. The Russians did recover items from the climbers' base camp, including Fox's diary. Russian authorities, possibly for political reasons, claimed that the climbing party may have probably strayed into Svaneti, Georgia, and may have been murdered by the local population, who had rebelled against the Russians not long before. They recovered a number of personal items from the camp, but found that light climbing gear – rope, ice axes and a camera – were missing. The search party concluded that Donkin and Fox had continued their climb, intending to return to the bivouac, but had fallen while navigating a narrow ridge higher up the mountain. Such a fall would have been thousands of feet, and the winter snow would have covered the climbers' bodies. So despite conducting a search of the valley floor, no bodies were recovered. A cricket pavilion was erected in his memory at Wellington Cricket Club in Somerset, and a mountain in the Dawson Range in Canada was named Mount Fox in his honour. ==Notes==