He was the second surviving son of John Fox (1748-1817), cabinet maker and upholsterer, of Huntingdon, and second wife, Frances Maples (1760-1845).
Fox was admitted a member of the Royal College of Surgeons on 5 March 1819, and practised in Huntingdon and the neighbourhood.
He was the founder of the Literary and Scientific Institution of Huntingdon in 1841, and was himself an able lecturer on subjects connected with antiquities, geology, natural history, and philosophy.
His only publication, The History of Godmanchester, in the county of Huntingdon, 8vo, London, 1831, one of the best of its class, gained him admission to the Society of Antiquaries.
This, together with his philosophical apparatus, was purchased by subscription after his death, and placed in the Huntingdon Literary and Scientific Institution as a testimonial to his memory.