Cleric, civil servant.
Born at London, England on 11 February 1928 to Edith Emson Frost (1897-1985) and George Folliett Cox (1895-1985), he joined the British Merchant Navy at the age of 16 and served during the Second World War. Later, he immigrated to Durban, South Africa and worked as a shipping agent. With his wife, Nancy Gowans (1920-2003), who had also served in the British Army during the Second World War, he returned to England, where he studied and passed extensive examinations to become a Chartered Ship Broker.
In 1951, he and his wife immigrated to Winnipeg, and he entered St. John's College to study Theology. He was ordained as an Anglican Priest and then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in English. His first Parish was Old St. Andrew’s at Lockport. He was appointed Dean of the Interlake and traveled extensively up the west coast of Lake Winnipeg. He lectured in Theology at St. John's College, taught at Saint John's Cathedral Boys’ School and was one of the Masters who, in 1959 with a group of students, made the round trip rowing from Winnipeg to Norway House.
Returning to Winnipeg, the couple opened their home as a half-way house for teenage girls, under the auspices of the Anglican Church, at 69 Saint Cross Street. During this period, he completed post-graduate studies in counselling at Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1963, he was appointed the first Protestant Chaplain in Manitoba at Headingley Gaol. He was then appointed Supervisor of Staff Training in 1966, at which time he developed a two-year certificate program for Correctional Officers that was used and translated into several languages. His focus was to shift the emphasis from a simple incarceration function to one of rehabilitation. He was appointed Superintendent of Headingley Correctional Institution, and then Director of Corrections for the Province of Manitoba in 1970.
In 1976, he was asked by the federal and provincial governments to study and report on the criminal justice systems in Britain, France, Germany, and Holland. On his return, he was appointed Inspector General and then Assistant Commissioner of Corrections. Following retirement in 1983, he was appointed as a Magistrate for the City of Winnipeg, and also assumed responsibilities as a Non-Stipendiary Priest at St. Chad Anglican Church.
After his divorce from Nancy Gowans, he went on to marry Anita in 1971. He had no children. He died at Winnipeg on 7 December 2012 and was buried in the Brookside Cemetery.
Obituary [Nancy Cox], Winnipeg Free Press, 1 February 2003.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 15 December 2012.
“Eric George Ernest Cox,” Carter Family Tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 16 February 2026
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