William Augustus Henry Fawkener (c.1750–1811)jamesboswell.info
/ref> was a British civil servant and diplomat.

Background

William Fawkener was one of the sons of Sir

Everard Fawkener Sir Everard Fawkener (1694–1758) was an English merchant and diplomat, chiefly remembered for his friendship with Voltaire. His daughter was the celebrated political hostess Harriet Bouverie. Career Fawkener was born into a family of silk merch ...

, a merchant and then British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, who did not marry until he was aged 53, and thus died in 1758 while William was still young. His mother was Harriet daughter of Lieutenant General Charles Churchill. William was probably named in honour of his father's patron Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, and served as a page of honour at the Duke's funeral in 1765. His brother Everard also became a civil servant, holding the post of Commissioner of Stamps from 1783 to 1803, obtained through William's influence.

Privy Council clerk

William was appointed a Clerk of the Privy Council in 1779. He held this post until at least 1795. During his service to the Privy Council, he was employed on various diplomatic missions. In 1783 he was appointed as secretary of the embassy to the Marquess of Carmarthen, who was appointed ambassador to France, but was instead appointed

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

before he departed. In April 1787, he was Envoy Extraordinary to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In October 1787, he was sent as an envoy to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to negotiate a commercial treaty in conjunction with

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

, the Minister resident there. In 1791, he was sent on a secret mission to Catherine II of Russia. Details of his later career are unclear. For a period, he worked as the secretary of William Windham, the secretary for war and the colonies. He was sent letters from British subjects living and working in Haiti from 1806 to 1807.

Family and private life

He married Georgiana Ann, daughter of William Poyntz of Midgham House, Berkshire. The marriage was an arranged one and not to the liking of Georgiana. She met Hon. John Townshend at

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...

's house,

Brocket Hall Brocket Hall is a neo-classical country house set in a large park at the western side of the urban area of Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire, England. The estate is equipped with two golf courses and seven smaller listed buildings, apart fro ...

in the summer of 1785, fell in love, and ultimately eloped with him. The result was a duel in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

in May 1786 between Fawkener and Melbourne, in which the former missed and the latter fired into the air, ending without bloodshed. Fawkener subsequently brought an action against Townshend for

criminal conversation At common law, criminal conversation, often abbreviated as ''crim. con.'', is a tort arising from adultery. "Conversation" is an old euphemism for sexual intercourse that is obsolete except as part of this term. It is similar to breach of pro ...

. The trial began on 12 July 1786 before Sir Francis Buller, and ended with the award of £500 in damages to Fawkener. Fawkener obtained a divorce by Act of Parliament in April 1787, whereupon Georgiana married Hon. John Townshend. He married again to Elizabeth Wright. They had two daughters: *Mary Wilhelmina Augustine Henrietta (1788 – 4 February 1860), married her cousin Horatio Walpole *Sarah (27 May 1789 – 31 October 1817 London),Family Search
born in Iping, married General

Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish General (United Kingdom), General Hon. Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish (5 November 1789 – 5 April 1873) was a British Army officer, politician and courtier. Early life and career Cavendish was born in Westminster, the third son of George Cav ...

and died in Londonthepeerage.com
/ref> He inherited an estate at

Iping Iping is a village and parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies within the civil parish of Stedham with Iping, just off the A272 road west of Midhurst. The village lies on the River Rother. Etymology The Old English ...

in Sussex in 1760, but he and his first wife apparently sold this in 1784. He lived at Brereton Hall, Shropshire. However his address was South Street, Grosvenor Square, Middlesex in 1789.Portland Archives at Nottingham University
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fawkener, William 1750 births 1811 deaths Clerks of the Privy Council Ambassadors of Great Britain to Portugal