Henry Fawcett
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The Right Honourable Henry Fawcett PC (MP) |
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_by_Ford_Madox_Brown.jpg)
Henry Fawcett and Millicent Garrett Fawcett by Ford Madox Brown, 1872, National Portrait Gallery, London.
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| Postmaster General | |
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In office 3 May 1880 – 6 November 1884 |
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| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Prime Minister | William Ewart Gladstone |
| Preceded by | Lord John Manners |
| Succeeded by | George Shaw-Lefevre |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
26 August 1833 Salisbury |
| Died | 6 November 1884 (aged 51) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) |
Millicent Garrett (1847–1929) |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
Henry Fawcett PC (26 August 1833 – 6 November 1884) was a British academic, statesman and economist.
Henry Fawcett was born in Salisbury, and educated at King's College School and the University of Cambridge: entering Peterhouse in 1852, he migrated to Trinity Hall the following year, and became a fellow there in 1856, the year he graduated BA as 7th Wrangler.
In 1858, when he was 25, he was blinded in a shooting accident. Despite his blindness, he continued with his studies, especially in economics. He was able to enter Lincoln's Inn, but decided against a career as a barrister and took his name off their books in 1860.
Two years later, Henry Fawcett reportedly attended the 1860 Oxford evolution debate, during which he was asked whether he thought Bishop Samuel Wilberforce had actually read the Origin of Species. Reportedly, Henry Fawcett replied loudly, "Oh no, I would swear he has never read a word of it". Ready to recriminate, Wilberforce swung round to him scowling, but stepped back and bit his tongue on noting that the speaker was the blind economist.
At the next meeting (in September 1861) of the British Association in Manchester, Henry Fawcett defended the logic behind Charles Darwin's theories. This significantly affected its acceptance.
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, his works on which include The Economic Position of the British Labourer (1865) and Labour and Wages.
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