William Augustus Fawkener (abt. 1750-1811)

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Biography

William Augustus Fawkener. (abt. 1750-1811)

Son of Everard Fawkener (1684-1758) and Harriet Churchill (ca. 1726-1777).1 Married (1784) to Georgiana Ann Poyntz (1763-1851). He became a clerk to the Privy Council, and was, in 1791, sent on a secret mission to Empress Catherine II of Russia.2

Fawkener's marriage to Georgiana quickly ended in divorce, and his then former wife married Lord John Townsend in 1787.

Life with James Boswell:

Boswell rode with Fawkener, then a student at the Collegium Carolinum in Brunswick, from Brunswick to Wolfenbuttel on August 14, 1764. He described him as a genteel, pretty, amiable young fellow.

Notes:

Note 1: Everard Fawkener is best known as the friend of Voltaire, at whose house the famous philosopher lived for a major part of his stay in England. He was also at various points, a silk merchant, secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, ambassador to Turkey, and postmaster general.

Note 2: Dictionary of National Biography, entry "Fawkener, Everard".

 

This article was last updated at March 30 2008 22:45:39 CET

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