Hertfordshire. Charlotte, his widow, survived till 18 June 1824, and died at Hornsey. Fawcett's sermons are high-flown, but not devoid of matter; they are written for effect, and may be read with interest, notwithstanding their redundances. His poems have the same exuberance which marks his discourses, but on the whole his verse is superior to his prose. Some of his lines are striking, e.g.
The harsh, coarse horror of a German muse.
(Art of Poetry.)
Fawcett published: 1. ‘The Propriety and Importance of Public Worship,’ &c. (sermon 28 March, at the Old Jewry). 2. ‘Sermons,’ &c., 1795, 8vo, 2 vols. 3. ‘The Art of War; a Poem,’ 1795, 4to. 4. ‘The Art of Poetry … by Sir Simon Swan,’ 1797, 4to. 5. ‘Poems,’ 1798, 8vo (includes No. 3, with title ‘Civilised War,’ and No. 4). 6. ‘War Elegies,’ 1801, 8vo. An additional sermon was printed by John Evans, LL.D. [q. v.], in ‘Tracts, Sermons,’ &c., 1825, 8vo.
[Gent. Mag. 1804, pp. 185, 276; Wilson's History and Antiquities of Dissenting Churches in London, Westminster, and Southwark, with Lives of their Ministers, 1808, ii. 304; Monthly Repository, 1817 p. 90, 1822 p. 198, 1824 p. 365; Rutt's Mem. of Priestley, 1831 i. 334, 1832 ii. 323; Davids's Evangelical Nonconformity in Essex, 1863, p. 628.]
FAWCETT, JOSHUA (d. 1864), miscellaneous writer, was the second son of Richard Fawcett, worsted manufacturer, of Bradford, Yorkshire. He was educated at a grammar school at Clapham, London, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, and took the degrees in arts, B.A. in 1829, M.A. in 1836. He was ordained in 1830, and after serving curacies at Pannall, near Harrogate, Yorkshire, and at Everton, near Liverpool, Lancashire, he was presented in 1833 by his brother-in-law, Henry Heap, vicar of Bradford, to the perpetual curacy of Holy Trinity, Wibsey, Low Moor. Fawcett was a painstaking clergyman, an enthusiastic, somewhat bigoted advocate of total abstinence, and a popular lecturer. During his incumbency he built a new church and parsonage, the former of which was opened in 1837. He lived to see, as the population of Low Moor and its immediate neighbourhood multiplied, the religious wants of the people cared for by the erection of five additional churches. In 1860 he became honorary canon of Ripon, Yorkshire, and chaplain to the bishop. He died suddenly at Low Moor 21 Dec. 1864, when ‘about sixty years of age,’ and was buried on the 28th in Holy Trinity churchyard. In 1834 he married Sarah, third daughter of the Rev. Lamplugh Hird. His widow and two sons survived him. Of his writings the following may be mentioned: 1. ‘A Harmony of the Gospels,’ 12mo, London, 1836. 2. ‘The Churches of York by W. Monkhouse and F. Bedford, junior, with Historical and Architectural Notes by J. Fawcett,’ fol., York [1843]. 3. ‘A brief History of the “Book of Common Prayer” of the Church of England,’ 12mo, London [1844]. 4. ‘A Memorial, Historical and Architectural, of the Parish Church of St. Peter's, Bradford, Yorkshire,’ 8vo, Bradford, 1845; reprinted, 12mo, Bradford, 1848. 5. ‘Church Rides in the Neighbourhood of Scarborough,’ 16mo, London, Scarborough [printed], 1848. 6. ‘A Memorial, Historical and Architectural, of the Church of St. Thomas à Becket, Heptonstall, in the Parish of Halifax and County of York,’ 12mo, Bradford, 1849. 7. ‘“The Flood came and took them all away,” a sermon [on Matt. xxiv. 39] on the Holmfirth Flood … To which is added a detailed account of the awful disaster at Holmfirth,’ 18mo, London, Brighton [printed], 1852. 8. ‘Pastoral Addresses First Series,’ 12mo, London, 1855. He also edited ‘The Village Churchman,’ afterwards incorporated with ‘The Churchman,’ and continued under the title of ‘The Churchman's Magazine,’ 8 vols. 12mo, London, 1838–45.
[Bradford Observer, 22 Dec. 1864, pp. 4, 5, 29 Dec. 1864, p. 5; Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1860, p. 202; Gent. Mag. 3rd ser. xviii. 383; Boyne's Yorkshire Library.]
FAWCETT, Sir WILLIAM (1728–1804), general, whose name is invariably spelt Faucitt in all the ‘Army Lists’ from 1756 to 1785, son of William Faucitt of Bull Close, Halifax, by Martha, daughter of James Lister of Shibden Hall, Halifax, was born at Shibden Hall in 1728. He was well educated at the free school of Bury, Lancashire, under his uncle, John Lister, and from an early age evinced a desire to enter the army. His wishes were, however, discouraged by his mother, and it was not until after much opposition that he was allowed to accept an ensigncy in General Oglethorpe's regiment. He served in the rebellion of 1745. In his ardour for active service he threw up this commission, and, strongly recommended by his neighbours, Lord Rockingham and Mr. Lascelles (afterwards Lord Harewood), he joined the army besieging Maestricht in 1748 as a volunteer. His bravery secured him another commission, but he almost immediately went upon half-pay on his marriage to a wealthy lady, who disapproved of the army as a profession. She soon relented, and on 26 Jan. 1751 Fawcett purchased an ensigncy in the 3rd
