James Charles Cox (21 July 1834 – 29 September 1912) was an Australian physician and conchologist. Early life Cox was born at Mulgoa, southwest of Sydney. He was a son of Jane Maria (née Brooks) Cox and Edward Cox of Fernhill in Mulgoa. Among his siblings was Edward King Cox, who was appointed to the New South Wales Legislative Council, and Richard William Cox, a prominent sheep grazer. His father was a non-elective member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. His paternal grandparents were Rebecca (née Upjohn) Cox and William Cox, an English soldier and pioneer. His uncle was Alfred Cox, a large landowner and member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. As a child, he played with Aboriginal children and learned from them about native birds and animals. He was educated at the local parish school and the King's School, Parramatta. He was apprenticed to be a physician for three years and learned dispensing at the Sydney Infirmary, acted as a clinical clerk, assisted at post mortems and was present at one of the first operations using chloroform in 1852. Career He became an assistant to Professor John Smith, the foundation professor of chemistry and experimental physics at the University of Sydney at its original site near Hyde Park, now occupied by Sydney Grammar School and established what became the Sydney Museum next door. He earned an M.D. in 1857 presenting the thesis "On the icterus neonatorum" and F.R.C.S. in 1858 at the University of Edinburgh. He was registered as a medical practitioner in New South Wales in February 1859 and developed a lucrative private practice in Sydney. Cox retained an interest in nature all his life. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales (then the Philosophical Society) in 1859. He was first president of the New South Wales Board of Fisheries and first secretary of the Entomological Society (later the Linnean Society of New South Wales), both in 1862. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society of London in 1868. He was a trustee of the Sydney Museum and left it his collection of land shells. His wrote extensively in the journals of these societies on the conchology of Australia and Melanesia. He retained a lifelong interest in history, being a foundation member of the Australian Historical Society in 1901 and the first President of the Australasian Pioneers