Henry Fawcett, Salisbury, Wiltshire UK
N 51° 04.172 W 001° 47.724
30U E 584398 N 5658247
Henry Fawcett, the son of a draper, was born in Salisbury in 1833. The statue is a life-size statue on a polished granite plinth.
Waymark Code: WM5WNA
Location: United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/21/2009
Views: 7
A plaque has been installed at the base of the statue of Henry Fawcett in Salisbury's Market Place explaining the achievements of one of the city's most prominent sons.
Henry Fawcett was born into a politically active family above a draper's shop in Blue Boar Row in 1833. He attended Cambridge University where he graduated in mathematics in 1857. This was also the year in which he was blinded for life following a shooting accident on Harnham Hill just outside Salisbury while visiting his parents. Undaunted Fawcett continued his academic work and became Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University in 1863. His political career began when he was elected MP for Brighton in 1865.
He married Millicent Garrett in 1867. For the next few years Millicent Fawcett spent much of her time assisting Henry in his work as a MP. However, Henry, an ardent supporter of women's rights, encouraged Millicent to continue her own career as a writer. At first Millicent wrote articles for journals but later books such as Political Economy for Beginners and Essays and Lectures on Political Subjects were published. Millicent Fawcett joined the London Suffrage Committee in 1868. Although only a moderate public speaker, Millicent was a superb organiser and by the early 1880s she had emerged as the one of the leaders of the suffrage movement.
He was appointed Postmaster General in 1880. He introduced the parcel post, postal orders and the sixpenny telegram. He also used his power as Postmaster General to start employing women medical officers and to argue for equal political rights for women.
Henry Fawcett's reforms would have been significant, however long his political career had lasted. Sadly his life was tragically cut short when he died in 1884 from pleurisy.
Visit Instructions:
You must have visited the site in person, not online.