 After attending Ashby-de-la-Zouch Grammar School where he became head boy, Fox was a Bryce research student in Oriel College, Oxford and gained a first class Honours degree in History.He then spent some time doing research at the University of Manchester before being appointed the first city archivist for Coventry.Declared unfit for war service, Fox was appointed Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) in 1945 and built a loyal team around him.