Henry Fawcett Memorial
The Henry Fawcett Memorial stands in a public park shaped from land reclaimed from the Thames. Mary Grant created the statue in 1886, among late Victorian memorials, flower beds, and quiet paths.
The monument commemorates Henry Fawcett, who became blind at twenty-five after a shooting accident. At Cambridge, he became the first professor of political economy. He later served as the first completely blind Member of Parliament, representing Brighton and Hackney. In 1866, he helped organise Britain’s first mass petition supporting women’s suffrage. The following year, he supported John Stuart Mill’s amendment to the Reform Bill.
An inscription records that grateful countrywomen erected the memorial, linking political achievement with the women’s movement. Fawcett married Millicent Garrett in 1867, and she later helped found Newnham College and led a national suffrage organisation. Mary Grant’s authorship adds another striking detail, since few Victorian women worked as sculptors.
- City
- City of Westminster
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