William J. Knox (1878-1967) was born at Fitzroy Harbour, Ontario, and was of Irish-Scottish descent. He was the second of eight children born to mother Jessie Argue and father Reverend Knox.

Before becoming a doctor, W.J. Knox worked as a teacher. He entered the Medical School at Queen’s University, Kingston, in 1899 at age 21. In 1903 he travelled west toward British Columbia, arriving in Kelowna for the first time that same year as locum tenens under Dr. Benjamin de F. Boyce, Kelowna’s first doctor. He returned on a permanent basis in 1904 as partner of Dr. Boyce, and would practice medicine in Kelowna for a total of sixty years.

Knox married Jean Dickson of Kingston, Ontario in 1905. They had four children between 1906 and 1918.

Knox was elected to the Kelowna School Board, and served as Secretary until 1912. In 1909 he was appointed Medical Inspector of Schools. He delivered a report on the population health in schools in this role for 53 consecutive years; this service culminated in his recognition in the naming of the Dr. Knox Junior Senior High School in 1961.

Local politics, and politics of the medical profession, interested Knox. He contributed to the establishment of the first interior medical association in 1922 and served as its first president. In 1932, he served as president of the BC Medical Association. Other distinctions include his appointment to the Order of the British Empire in 1946, his receipt of an honorary Doctor of Letters from his Alma mater Queen’s University in 1951, and his naming as “Freeman of the City” in Kelowna in 1961.