Community & Business
21 December, 2025
Fox family reunites
THEY came from Perth, Melbourne, the Northern Territory, and “everywhere in between”.
When the Fox family have a reunion, they mean business – it’s a family with branches stretching wider than a Mossman Rain Tree.
Some 342 relatives arrived in Atherton and Mareeba in late September to celebrate over 100 years of the family’s presence in the region.
The three-day event was held at the Merriland Hall in Atherton, where stories were swapped, history recounted and a bit of gossip shared.
“It was better than I could have imagined,” reunion organiser Douglas Fox said recently.
The last reunion, in 1985, had been the start of this proud tradition.
“People still remember the ’85 one 40 years ago – Marion Lynch was the main organiser, and she was here at this one!”
For Doug, this second event took a few years to organise – contacting everyone, sorting venues and providing accommodation information to those travelling from interstate or from other regions in Queensland.
Now, proudly holding the latest “family portrait”, taken with painstaking patience by the official photographer (a Fox family member) at the Atherton football ground, Doug said it was an amazing event.
“The photographer set up pictures so that every line of the family could have their own portrait, then he took some of the whole group – it took some organising.
“It couldn’t of gone off any better – it was bloody amazing.”
Little would Martin and Eliza Fox know what they started.
The couple married in 1906, in Mullumbimby (NSW), and Martin worked as a dairy farmer.
They moved up and down the coast, but in 1918, they moved the growing family to Kureen near Malanda and continued to work on farms.
Martin eventually bought a dairy farm at “the top of the Gillies Range” and ran a bullock team to cut and sell timber.
Years later, they sold the farm and moved to Tolga, where Martin and son Atholl (Doug’s father), set up as Auctioneer Commission Agents and cattle salesmen.
Martin was also an Atherton Shire councillor, and Eliza was heavily involved with the Atherton Show Society.
The Fox dynasty is now sitting at over 800 family members.
It began with the 10 children Martin and Eliza had – Annie, Ivy, George, Gordon, Athol, Hilton, Reta, Mary, Joy and Wilfred.
Nine of those children also had big families – Doug himself is one of 11.
“Between them they had 18 sets of twins, and most of the family stayed around the area,” Doug said.
This year’s event drew family of all ages from the youngest, at just a few months old, to the eldest, Graham Fox, who is in his 90s and had the honour of cutting two giant cakes made by the Malanda Bakery.
The three days were spent setting up on the Friday, having the “big day” on Saturday, and spending Sunday unwinding and packing up.
Doug said the family lines had each created tables displaying precious, historic family pictures, antiques and memorabilia.
“There were also craft areas for children – so many children,” he added delightedly.
The hall took on a grand atmosphere with tables overflowing with stunning artificial flower arrangements handmade by one of the cousins, Sue Richardson.
“They absolutely made the tables, you’d reckon they were real!”
Another local family made the banners that decked the hall. There were speeches, presentations and many fond memories.
“We had food vans set up, coffee vans, ice-cream vans during the day,” Doug said.
“The Lions Club did breakfast, bacon and egg burgers, and sausages on bread – there were times they had to go back downtown to get more food. You should have seen the smiles on those faces.”
To mark the occasion, the family had also organised a 2025 Reunion Book, following the tradition set by the 1985 reunion. The book details the history and growth of the family, including all births, deaths and marriages.
“There will be more, I heard they want the next one in 10 years’ time,” Doug said.
“That’ll be big.
“We’ve always been a close family around here,” he continued thoughtfully.
“We’re just keeping the history alive, remembering the old people.”
