 Living throughout his life in the Cornish seaside town of Falmouth, Fox in the early decades of his life was a senior partner of his family's timber firm, Fox Stanton & Company, and was also on the Board of Messrs G C Fox & Company, a long-established firm of shipping agents.Fox is described by chess historian Thomas Rayner Dawson (1889–1951) as “a friendly man, kind, mellow, lovable, bringing peace and comfort and serene joy with him”.He was also a discreet but active homosexual.