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He was christened the son of William Cox, a turner, and his wife Hannah at St Giles, Cripplegate in 1769.
He married Susanna Nichols at the same church in 1797; both were from that parish.
Christening records at St Giles for six of their children 1798-1815 show their father as an optician, the latter showing his address as Banner Street.
He entered a maker’s mark at Goldsmiths Hall in 1834 as a spectacle case maker from 5 Barbican.
He was shown as an optician from that address in the 1841 UK Census.
In 1843 he applied for freedom of the City of London by patrimony in the Company of Spectacle makers.
He had died by the time of the 1851 UK Census when his widow Susanna(h) was recorded as a widow and optician at the previously noted address.

The sequence of the naming of this family business, which was perhaps a series of loose partnerships, but all occupying at one time or another, 3, and later, 5, Barbican, appears to be thus:

William Cox - Optician - 1765-1786
Cox & Son - Opticians - 1788-1796
Joseph Cox - Optician, Optical Instument Maker, and Mathematical Instrument Maker - 1789-1822
James Cox - Optician, Mathematical Instrument Maker, and Philosophical Instrument Maker - 1810-1857 (Name continued in use after death?)
Joseph & James Cox - Opticians and Mathematical Instrument Makers - 1820-1822
William Cox - Optician - 1831
Frederick Cox - Optician - 1833
George Cox - Optician, Mathematical Instrument Maker, Philosophical Instrument Maker, Hydrometer Maker, and Barometer Maker - 1845-1851

George Cox was the author of a 66 page book that was published in 1838, entitled 'Spectacle Secrets', also 'The Chemical Delectus', date unknown, and another entitled 'Agricultural chemistry', published in 1844.

The Author's address was noted as 5, Barbican.

George Cox was also noted as a witness in a libel case (Keyzor and another V. Newcomb) held in 1859. A line from his testimony includes the line ' we made the spectacles fifty years ago', a likely indicator that the Cox family were working as one firm.

The Will of James Cox, optician late of 5 Barbican, was proved for probate on 31st March 1851 (National Archives reference PROB 11/2128/352).

Joseph Cox is recorded as an Optician and Mathematical Instrument maker of 5, Barbican, Aldersgate Street.

Source: Johnstone's London Commercial Guide - Corrected to 31st August 1817 - Andrew Johnstone - 1818