Since 1991 when Bermuda’s Favourite Haunts, was first published, John has been cowriter, compiler and sole writer of 12 engaging books, most in different ways recording eras in Bermuda’s social history that could otherwise have been lost. His meticulous research and sensitive writing reveals a world of contrasts where fortunes were made by trading and piracy at sea, and family estates founded; where families rejoiced at the birth of children and mourned over deaths due to fever outbreaks. For decades he has researched family papers, properties and memorabilia. As John himself says, he is family historian, folklorist and ghost story writer, shaped by his earliest years.
However, the first of four children born to Michael and Anthea (nee Smith) Cox in December 1955, in the KE Hospital, the baby John had no idea of his future. When he was two days old, he was brought back to Orange Valley, the family home off Parson’s Lane in Devonshire, little knowing it would prove to be an inspiration for his future writing life. Not far away was The Grove, family home to his paternal grandparents on Orange Valley Road that would also inspire him to write The Tale of Two Houses: Orange Valley and The Grove, his favourite of all the books he has written. John’s fascination with both houses started at an early age. Aged two, he frightened his family by escaping from his house to walk on his own to the Grove and thereafter was a constant visitor. He remembers many gatherings with relatives such as the Coxes, the Dills and the Zuills. “My paternal grandmother would have all the grandchildren over for lunch on Saturday,” he remembers, “and that bonded us.” Other gracious occasions with family, such as afternoon tea, would be featured in some of his books. He was especially fond of both sets of grandparents, his maternal ones being Donald and Helen Smith. “My grandfathers,” he explains, “couldn’t have been more different though they both served in Parliament. Donald was a socialist with left wing views on civil and female rights and who turned the status quo on its head. Sir John was very fair, very kind and a complete proponent of the status quo.”
Perhaps John has inherited qualities from both since he strongly appreciates what he calls the “old fashioned charm, politeness and formality” of an earlier age, while also following from time to time an urge to be different. As a primary student, he was required to wear a grey sweater every day at school. One morning he decided to wear a red one instead. “You’re going to get it,” his fellow students told him. When his head teacher asked him why he was wearing it, he told her, “Because wearing grey makes me sad.” Her response was to support his action, introducing the red sweater as part of the school uniform. John’s rebellion is why to this day Saltus Cavendish students wear red sweaters.
John showed an early interest in the past. At school, his favourite subjects were English and History and from the start he knew he loved to write. After Saltus he attended Trinity College boarding school in Port Hope, Canada where despite initial homesickness and a bout of mononucleosis, he was able to strike a rapport with two English teachers who recognised his talent. While attending business school for a short time (This was a very lonely period for him as he soon recognised he did not fit into the world of business), he found a creative writing course that he loved. In 1977 he went to Northeastern University in Boston to study teaching, but he had to leave, stricken with recurring mononucleosis, an illness that was to haunt him for many years of his life. Back in Bermuda he worked in the Bermuda National Trust’s offices and as a docent in their museums, augmenting his knowledge of Bermudian history. Between tours he would sit and write, dreaming that one day he would write a book. He also during that period joined the Bermuda Historical Society becoming secretary for many years and from 2002 vice president. In 1984 he contributed the article “Life in Old Devonshire Parish,” to the 375th anniversary Bermuda Heritage Magazine. On reading it Reggie Ming said, “You know, he’s a good little writer!” By the end of the 1980s, John was writing articles for The Bermudian and acting as its associate editor.
Approached by Joan Skinner and Mac Musson, a spirit medium and the wife of the Queen of Bermuda’s captain, John was asked to collaborate on a book of Bermuda ghost stories. As a teenager he had experienced a female ghost, possibly his ancestor Laura Cox pacing in his bedroom so the subject did not strike him as strange. Bermuda’s Favourite Haunts came out in 1994, soon to be followed by a second volume in 1996. In 1998 he published what he deems as his greatest achievement – Life in Old Bermuda, a compilation of Bermudian family memoirs. A steady flow of books followed, including At Home in Old Bermuda, and Early Bermuda Eccentrics. Let us hope he is wrong when he says The Best of Old Bermuda due out next year, will be his last. Through his books, as one critic so aptly put it, “John has peopled the houses again and put lights in the windows.”
