April 1, 1786, marked the birthday of a brilliant English Unitarian minister, William Johnson Fox. Fox, born to poor parents, worked as a weaver and in a bank before studying for the ministry. One of his church placements was in the Universalist Chapel in Parliament Court in London. He was well known as a champion of the downtrodden and unprotected. He was an associate of John Stuart Mill, with whom he published two reviews. In 1847, he became a member of Parliament where he was admired by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. 

I found a telling reference to Rev. Fox in the book, Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages by Phyllis Rose. A vivacious Unitarian, Harriet Hardy, had married John Taylor at age 19. After four years of marriage and two children, Harriet was miserable. She found her husband intellectually boring and distasteful and his too frequent impositions in the bedroom seemed aggressive and brutal. What could she do? Claim endless headaches? Stay constantly pregnant? Take a lover? Rather than consult a lawyer, who would remind her of her very limited legal rights, she turned to her minister, William J. Fox.  He listened carefully, did not remind her of her duties as a wife, or scold her. Instead, respecting her (how rare for a Victorian male!) and realizing her need for intellectual stimulation, he introduced her to his friend, John Stuart Mill.  They spent the rest of their lives together. 

Fox died on June 3, 1864.