In the chapel of St George, near the west door, is a joint
memorial to Henry Fawcett, politician, and his wife Dame Millicent
Garrett Fawcett. The bronze mural monument to Henry, by Sir Alfred
Gilbert, was erected in 1887. The relief portrait and figures of
Brotherhood, Zeal, Justice, Fortitude, Sympathy, Industry and
another of Brotherhood were all executed by the process of casting
known as "la céra perduta". This is thought to be the
first complete work in England using this process. The turquoise
and garnets which adorned the memorial disappeared at the time of
the 1902 coronation. 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."
The memorial to Millicent, consisting of bronze wreathed
roundels on either side of Henry’s, was added in
1932 and is by Sir Herbert Baker. Her inscription reads:
"Dame Millicent Garratt Fawcett 1847-1929. A wise constant and
courageous Englishwoman. She won citizenship for Women".
The insignia within the roundels represent the National Union of
Women's Social Services and the Order of the British Empire. There
are also small relief portraits of Henry and Millicent.
Henry was born in Salisbury, son of William Fawcett (d.1887) and
Mary (Cooper). A shooting accident was the cause of his blindness.
In Parliament he was known as the 'Member for India' as he
concerned himself with the better administration of government
there although he never visited the country. He married Millicent
Garrett in 1867 (younger sister of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, to
whom he first proposed). Millicent was born on 11 June 1847, a
daughter of Newson Garrett (d.1893) and Louisa (Dunnell). She
became leader of the constitutional women’s
suffrage movement and an author. Their only child Philippa was born
in 1868 and she became a mathematician. Henry was buried at
Trumpington churchyard in Cambridge and Millicent died in London
and was cremated at Golders Green.
Further reading
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004.
A photograph of the memorial can be purchased from Westminster
Abbey Library.