Peter Richmond Cox CB

Peter Cox, Actuary and Fellow of the Eugenics Society from 1953, died in September 2001. He was first elected to the Society’s Council in 1954 and served on it almost continuously until 1990, as President 1970-72. He gave the 1973 Galton Lecture.

Educated at King’s College School, Wimbledon, he entered the Government Actuary’s Department in 1933. Qualifying as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1939 he excelled in his chosen profession being Deputy Government Actuary from 1963 to 1974. He was awarded the Silver Medal of the Institute of Actuaries in 1975.

Peter’s contribution to the work of the Eugenics Society during his nearly 40 years of active membership was considerable. He edited, jointly, four of our Conference Proceedings: Population and Pollution, 1972; Resources and Population, 1973; Population and the New Biology, 1974 and Equalities and Inequalities in Education, 1975. In his Galton Lecture “Population Prospects and the New Biology” he discussed how the effects of recent advances in biology, those aimed at prolonging life and those which gave people more control over their reproduction, could affect population structure. However, he explained, it is not possible to forecast demographic changes with any accuracy. Indeed the publication of population projections can itself be the cause of reactions which in part change the predicted future. He concluded that the most likely effect of the new biology would be an ageing population.

On a personal note, I remember how helpful Peter was when I first joined the Council and how in the years we served on it together he was one of a small number of members who guided it through sometimes difficult periods. Our continued existence owes much to him

Peter Cox is survived by his wife, Faith, who was for many years the General Secretary of the Eugenics Society.

John Timson