Cox Pavilion

Cox Pavilion

Between 1857 and 1938 the Cox family had at least one, and often two or three family members on the RAS Council. Arriving in Australia in 1799, the Cox family patriarch William built the road across the Blue Mountains before settling in as a pastoralist breeding cattle and Spanish merinos. Two of his sons were Presidents of the Society (1862 and 1864) and his grandson, the Hon. George Henry Cox was the inaugural President of the NSW Sheepbreeders’ Association.

The family spread their sheep holdings across the Mudgee district and throughout the Hawkesbury Valley. Their wool was award-winning, taking out international titles in the 1870s and 1880s, including the grand prize at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1878. Fernhill, the family home of Edward King Cox, built by his father in 1840 of local sandstone, was bought by the NSW government for $27 million in 2018 and is still standing, as is the Pavilion bearing the family name at Sydney Showground. And fittingly it is the home of sheep and fleece judging, shearing and auctions during the Sydney Royal Easter Show.