Draft:Frederick John Knox

• Comment: Please act on the advice given by Tacyarg. The main thing is that you need to be using reliable secondary sources (like the NZ History one) as Tacyarg said
  If you follow their advice for getting the article up to AFC standard and then resubmit, let me know on my talk page and I'll take another look MangoMan11 (talk) 04:36, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

• Comment: Notability is not shown well by the references here. The primary source of the passenger list does not contribute to notability and should be removed; it suggests original research. The sources at nzpictures.co.nz should be linked to at their original publications, not at this aggregation website. In any case, none of the extracts there contribute to notability, as they are either primary sources about routine family events, or contributions by Knox to the papers. I am not sure from the text quoted from the Lonsdale biography of the brother, and what I can see of this book online, whether this provides significant coverage of Frederick. However - the profile at nzhistory.govt.nz is a good source, and there are at least two other references mentioned there which look as if they would contribute to notability if added to this article. Tacyarg (talk) 01:46, 7 April 2026 (UTC)

• Comment: I would edit the personal pronouns ("we") and the last bit seems slightly choppy. 🚂ThatTrainGuy1945 ^{Peep peep!} 19:22, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

---

Frederick John Knox
Born	Frederick John Knox (1794-04-03)3 April 1794 Edinburgh
Died	August 1873(1873-08-00) (aged 79)
Spouse	Margaret Russell
Children	Mary, Robert John, Margaret, Isabella, Jane Russell, Frederick John, Thomas Russell, Helen Russell, Janet McLean
Parent(s)	Mary Scheher and Robert Knox
Relatives	Robert Knox (surgeon) (brother)

Frederick John Knox was a surgeon, anatomist, and librarian of New Zealand's first public library. He was licensed by The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1831.

In 1836, he wrote The Anatomists Instructor and Museum Companion: Being Practical Directions for the Formation and Subsequent Management Of Anatomical Museums. The book is about the procedures to be taken to prepare various types of specimens, most notably for the Surgeons' Hall, and was intended for students of Robert Knox's class.

Knox mentions throughout the book that he is exasperated with the students of his brother's class and dislikes specimens being handled by them. This is further solidified by Henry Lonsdale, in his biography of Robert Knox;

John Frederick Knox, generally known by the students as "Brother Fred," was a great concern, pecuniarily and otherwise, to Dr. Knox; indeed many adjudged him to be the Doctor's greatest plague in life. As conservator of the Knox Museum, and a great stickler for order and "maintenance intact," "Fred" had a horror of seeing anatomical preparations handled by the pupils of the class.

There are no known paintings nor photographs of Knox, although there is one description from the same passage by Henry Lonsdale:

"Fred," it ought to be said, was the handsomer brother of the two, and seemed to pride himself upon this outward distinction—call it good luck.

Knox moved to New Zealand in 1840 on the vessel Martha Ridgway, in which he was the ship's surgeon. His son, Thomas, died on the voyage.

On 15 August 1861. Knox was appointed as Coroner for the Porirua District. <refname="auto">https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1153288?page=1&rtp=1&ros=1&asr=1&assoc=all&mb=c</ref>

Knox died 5 July. On 7 August 1873, the Wellington Independent Newspaper wrote that he died at age 82, despite him being born in 1794, making him 79 years old.