Tom Cox (highwayman) Tom Cox (highwayman) Thomas Cox (c. 1665 – 12 September 1690), known as "The Handsome Highwayman", was an English highwayman, sentenced to death and hanged at Tyburn. He had a reputation for a spirited nature and it is reported that when asked if he wished to say a prayer before being hanged, he kicked the ordinary and the hangman out of the cart taking him there. Cox lived during the Restoration period. According to Alexander Smith's "A Complete History of the Lives and Robberies of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Footpads, Shoplifts and Cheats of Both Sexes" (1719), Tom Cox was
John Austin (inventor) John Austin (inventor) John Austin (April 17, 1752 – 1830), was a Scottish inventor, known for inventing musical equipment, improvements to weaving machines, and a new system of stenography. Austin was a native of Craigton. He was an apprentice to William and Walter Tait in Glasgow, and became a guild brother on January 18, 1776. He published at Glasgow, in or about 1800, a system of "Stenography which may be learned in an hour," on a single folio engraved sheet, price 2s. 6d. A note at the end announces the publication of a complete system by the same author, price