Henry Fawcett, statesman, was born in Salisbury and educated at the University of Cambridge, where he became Fellow of Trinity Hall. The son of William Fawcett and Mary Cooper, he was Postmaster-General; from 1880-1840 and established parcel post, postal orders, and licensing changes to permit payphones and trunk lines. He was blinded by a shooting accident in 1858, but continued his studies in economics, publishing his Manual of Political Economy in 1863 and becoming Professor of the Political Economy in Cambridge. He was elected MP for Brighton in 1865 and campaigned for women's suffrage, at which time he met his wife Millicent Garrett. The couple were married in 1867.He died from pleurisy. His monument by Sir A. Gilbert was errected at Westminster Abbey in 1887 and is located in the Nave.
The inscription, by Leslie Stephen, reads:
"HENRY FAWCETT BORN 26 AUGUST 1833 DIED 6 NOVEMBER 1884. After losing his sight by an accident at the age of 24, he became PROFESSOR of POLITICAL ECONOMY in the UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, MEMBER OF FOUR PARLIAMENTS and from 1880 to 1884 H.M.POSTMASTER GENERAL. His inexorable fidelity to his convictions commanded the respect of Statesmen his chivalrous self devotion to the cause of the poor and helpless won the affections of his Countrymen and of his Indian fellow subjects. His heroic acceptance of the calamity of blindness has left a memorable example of the power of a brave man to transmute loss into gain and wrest victory from misfortune. THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE SUBSCRIBERS TO A NATIONAL MEMORIAL."
There is a page on the Westminster Abbey website dedicated to the Henry and Millicent Fawcett Memorial. The memorial was relocated to the Chapel of St George, in the abbey, in 2013. He also has a memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens, a statue in Salisbury Market Place and two busts; one in the National Portrait Gallery and the other at Henry Fawcett Primary School. A memorial in Vauxhall Park was demolished in 1959. It marked the site of his former home, which was demolished for the creation of the park. The park was created in Henry's memory, after a campaign by Millicent and some of her friends.
Henry Fawcett, statesman, was born in Salisbury and educated at the University of Cambridge, where he became Fellow of Trinity Hall. The son of William Fawcett and Mary Cooper, he was Postmaster-General; from 1880-1840 and established parcel post, postal orders, and licensing changes to permit payphones and trunk lines. He was blinded by a shooting accident in 1858, but continued his studies in economics, publishing his Manual of Political Economy in 1863 and becoming Professor of the Political Economy in Cambridge. He was elected MP for Brighton in 1865 and campaigned for women's suffrage, at which time he met his wife Millicent Garrett. The couple were married in 1867.He died from pleurisy. His monument by Sir A. Gilbert was errected at Westminster Abbey in 1887 and is located in the Nave.
The inscription, by Leslie Stephen, reads:
"HENRY FAWCETT BORN 26 AUGUST 1833 DIED 6 NOVEMBER 1884. After losing his sight by an accident at the age of 24, he became PROFESSOR of POLITICAL ECONOMY in the UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, MEMBER OF FOUR PARLIAMENTS and from 1880 to 1884 H.M.POSTMASTER GENERAL. His inexorable fidelity to his convictions commanded the respect of Statesmen his chivalrous self devotion to the cause of the poor and helpless won the affections of his Countrymen and of his Indian fellow subjects. His heroic acceptance of the calamity of blindness has left a memorable example of the power of a brave man to transmute loss into gain and wrest victory from misfortune. THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE SUBSCRIBERS TO A NATIONAL MEMORIAL."
There is a page on the Westminster Abbey website dedicated to the Henry and Millicent Fawcett Memorial. The memorial was relocated to the Chapel of St George, in the abbey, in 2013. He also has a memorial in Victoria Embankment Gardens, a statue in Salisbury Market Place and two busts; one in the National Portrait Gallery and the other at Henry Fawcett Primary School. A memorial in Vauxhall Park was demolished in 1959. It marked the site of his former home, which was demolished for the creation of the park. The park was created in Henry's memory, after a campaign by Millicent and some of her friends.
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