Cox & Kings

Cox & Kings is the longest established travel company in the world, its history stretching back to 1758 when Richard Cox was appointed as regimental agent to the Foot Guards. Cox & Kings is now an independent tour company with offices in the United Kingdom, India, the United States and Japan. Its global headquarters are in London.

History

Richard Cox, the founder

Cox was born in Yorkshire in 1718. His father, Joshua, had made a good living as a lawyer and had moved from his birthplace in Clent in Worcestershire to Yorkshire. He then bought an estate near Quarley in Hampshire. There is little documentary evidence of the early life of Richard Cox, although he must have received an excellent education after which he came into the service of the English General, Lord Ligonier, as a clerk in the early 1740s. He was clearly exceptionally good at making important contacts with all echelons of the army and society, and in 1747 he married Caroline Codrington, daughter of Sir William Codrington who was an established military figure.

Cox’s career really took off when Lord Ligonier led the Flanders campaigns of the War of the Austrian Succession. In one letter sent back to London, Richard Cox makes a demand that “suitable winter provisions and housing should be made available for the three English companies” and he became ever increasingly entwined with the organisation of provisions and the general welfare of the troops. Ligonier, in turn, thought the world of his...
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