Henry Fawcett was an English politician and economist.
Background
Henry Fawcett was born at Salisbury on the 25th of August 1833. His father, William Fawcett, a native of Kirkby Lonsdale, in Westmorland, started life as a draper's assistant at Salisbury, opened a draper's shop on his own account in the market-place there in 1825, married a solicitor's daughter of the city, became a prominent local man, took a farm, developed his north-country sporting instincts, and displayed his shrewdness by successful speculations in Cornish mining. The father was active in electioneering matters, and his wife was an ardent reformer.
Education
Henry Fawcett was educated locally and at King's College school, London, and proceeded to Peterhouse, Cambridge, in October 1852, migrating in 1853 to Trinity Hall. He was seventh wrangler in 1856, and was elected to a fellowship at his college. He was blinded by a shooting accident in 1858, but continued his studies in economics.
Career
Henry Fawcett was able to enter Lincoln's Inn, but decided against a career as a barrister and took his name off their books in 1860. He publishing his Manual of Political Economy in 1863 and becoming Professor of the Political Economy in Cambridge. He had a particular interest in encouraging saving through the Post Office Savings Bank. In 1880, he was appointed Postmaster-General by William Ewart Gladstone and sworn of the Privy Council and established parcel post, postal orders, and licensing changes to permit payphones and trunk lines. He introduced the savings stamp which allowed people to save pennies at a time to build up the minimum account limit of a shilling. He pushed through parliament an act to allow savers to convert their post office savings to government stock and he developed the post office's life insurance and annuities schemes.
Achievements
In 1863, Henry Fawcett published his Manual of Political Economy and became Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge. He made himself a recognised authority on economics. In 1883, he was elected Rector of Glasgow University.
There are statues in his honor in Salisbury Market Square and in Victoria Embankment Gardens (Henry Fawcett Memorial) near Charing Cross in central London. There is also a statue with an angel standing over a seated Henry Fawcett (by the sculptor George Tinworth) that was erected in 1893 in Vauxhall Park but in 1959 by Lambeth Council it was removed. Sir Leslie Stephen wrote a biography of him, Life of Henry Fawcett, in 1885. Fawcett Primary School in Trumpington, Cambridge, was opened in 1949 and named after Henry Fawcett who lived nearby.
As a Liberal Party candidate Henry Fawcett had suffered some repeated defeats, after that he was elected Member of Parliament for Brighton in 1865. He held this seat until 1874, and thereafter represented Hackney between 1874 and 1884. He campaigned for women's suffrage.
Membership
Henry Fawcett was a member of the Royal Society of London.
Personality
Henry, inherited from his father a full measure of his shrewdness, along with his masculine energy, his straightforwardness, his perseverance and his fondness for fishing.
Connections
In 1865 Henry Fawcett proposed Elizabeth Garrett to marry him. But she rejected the proposal and concentrated on becoming a doctor at a time when women doctors were extremely rare.
However, in 1867 Fawcett married Elizabeth's younger sister Millicent Garrett. They had one child.
