Sammy Cox (aka Samuel Emanuel Jervis) (c1773–1891) is a significant former resident. He claimed to have been born Samuel Emanuel Jervis in England and spent time on his uncle's ship after his father died, then jumped ship in 1789 near Tamar heads and subsequently lived with the local aboriginals for twenty-six years. This would have him resident in Tasmania years before the first recorded settlement, in 1803 on the Derwent River, and before even the existence of Bass Strait was proved by George Bass and Matthew Flinders. In 1814 he met and was befriended by the Cox family, residents near Hadspen, and took the family's surname. He ended up working as a gardener and spent about 50 years living in a cottage on the "Little Moat" property on the Launceston side of Carrick. Cox died in the Launceston insane asylum in 1891 claiming to be 117 years old, though 115 is a more credible figure (von Stieglitz in 1946 credited his age as 118). His story has been widely reported; the dining room of the Carrick Hotel is named after him on the basis of it. It has been called into doubt, though, with historian Dr Andrew Piper describing the story as a tall tale constructed by Cox. While writing about Cox, Thomas Monds, who had befriended and assisted him, also expressed doubt as to the story's veracity.