Dr David J. Cox

Title: Honorary Research Fellow
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Location: School of Law, Social Sciences and Communications
University of Wolverhampton
David Cox

I graduated from the University of Birmingham in 1996 with a BA (Hons) in Ancient History and Archaeology. I then gained a MA (Distinction) in Modern History with the Open University in 2000 and gained my PhD (Modern History) with the University of Lancaster in 2006. After several happy years working at Keele (2004-2011) as a Research Assistant and Research Associate, I worked briefly at Plymouth University as a Research Fellow and am currently a Lecturer and Module Leader in Criminology at the University of Wolverhampton. I have published widely in the field of criminal justice history and am also an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

My primary research interests lie in the field of early modern policing, prisons and prisoners in Victorian England, judicial statistics and the history of probation. I have been part of several research projects with Professors Barry Godfrey (Visiting Professor, Keele University and currently Professor at Liverpool University) and Stephen Farrall (formerly Keele University and currently Professor at the University of Sheffield). I am currently undertaking research into public indecency and the Victorian prison licensing scheme.

My most recent books include :

  • Crime in England 1688-1815 (Routledge, 2013)
  • Policing the Factory (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013 - co-written with Barry Godfrey)
  • 'A certain share of low cunning': A history of the Bow Street Runners 1792-1839 (Routledge, 2012)

Recent articles include:

  • "Trying to get a good one": Bigamy offences in England and Wales 1850-1950’, Plymouth Law & Criminal Justice Review, vol. 4 (Autumn 2011): 1-32 [more]
  • "The wolves let loose at Wolverhampton": a study of the South Staffordshire Election Riots, May 1835’, in Law, Crime and History vol. 1 issue 2 (2011):1-31 [more]
  • "The habitual eccentricities of the Solons of Staffordshire": an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the Parliamentary Enquiry into the chaining of Mrs Eliza Price of Brierley Hill, July 1845’, in Plymouth Law & Criminal Justice Review vol. 3 (Autumn 2010): 109-127 [more]