WHEN Charles Fox retired as Chief Constable of Oxford, he promised to give the pension fund “a bit of a socking”.

He was speaking from experience – he had followed his father and grandfather into the force.

He explained: “The average for drawing a police pension in my family is the same period as I have been Chief Constable – 32 years.“ In fact, his ‘socking’ of the pension fund lasted just 16 years, but his legacy as head of the city police force, from 1924 to 1956, lived on.

‘Charlie’ Fox, as he was popularly called, began his police career as an 18-year-old constable on the beat in Portsmouth in 1909.

He served in Oxford for 10 years before being appointed the city’s third Chief Constable at the age of 33, succeeding Oswald Cole.

He took charge of a force of 79 men and two women, with its headquarters in Blue Boar Street.

His salary was £500 a year, plus allowances.

Among the many crimes he and his officers investigated were the attempted kidnap of Lord Nuffield in 1938 and the murder of widow Annie Kempson in St Clement’s in 1931.

Mr Fox took a great interest in Oxford’s traffic problems and encouraged schemes for safe driving and training young drivers and motorcyclists.

He urged motorists to use buses instead of driving daily to work in Oxford.

He had little to do with the social life of the city during his working career – in his view, a chief constable should be aloof from such activities.

But in retirement, he mixed considerably more and was in great demand as an after-dinner speaker, particularly on the history of the city police force.

When he retired at the age of 65, he lost no time setting out his routine.

Surrounded by farewell gifts, he told wellwishers: “Gardening in the morning, bowls in the afternoon, then home to tea.”

He was awarded an OBE and the King’s Police Medal, as well as becoming the first policeman to receive an honorary degree from Oxford University.

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