Background

William Fawkener was one of the sons of Sir Everard Fawkener

Everard Fawkener

Sir Everard Fawkener was an English merchant and diplomat.Fawkener was born into a family of silk merchants. His father, William was a leading member of the Levant Company. Everard was sent out to Aleppo in 1716 and remained there until 1725...

, 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 General Charles Churchill

Charles Churchill (governor)

Lieutenant General Charles Churchill was a British Army General and a Member of Parliament.-Career:Born the natural son of Elizabeth Dodd and General Charles Churchill and so the nephew of the 1st Duke of Marlborough, Churchill spent his early career in the British Army during the War of the...

. William was probably named in honour of the 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 a Commissioner of Stamps from 1783 to 1803, obtained through William's influence.

Privy Council clerk

William was appointed a Clerk of the Privy Council

Clerk of the Privy Council (United Kingdom)

The Clerk of the Privy Council is a civil servant in the government of the United Kingdom. He or she is the most senior civil servant in the Privy Council Office....

 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

Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds

Francis Godolphin Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds KG, PC , styled Marquess of Carmarthen until 1789, was a British politician...

, who was appointed ambassador to France, but was instead appointed Foreign Secretary 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

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 to negotiate a commercial treaty in conjunction with Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole

Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....

, the Minister resident there.

In 1791, he was sent on a secret mission to Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

.

Details of his later career are unclear.

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

Lord John Townshend

Lord John Townshend PC , styled The Honourable John Townshend until 1787, was a British Whig politician.-Background:...

 at Lord Melbourne

Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne

Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne , known as Sir Peniston Lamb, 2nd Baronet, from 1768 to 1770, was a British politician and the father of Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne....

's house, Brocket Hall

Brocket Hall

Brocket Hall is a country house in Hertfordshire, England, from London by road. It was built for Sir Matthew Lamb, 1st Baronet, in around 1760 to designs by the architect James Paine. It stands on the site of two predecessors, the first of which was built in 1239 and the second in about 1430. It...

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

Hyde Park, London

Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

 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

Criminal conversation

Criminal conversation, commonly known as crim. con., is a tort arising from adultery.-History of criminal conversation:It was based upon compensation for the husband's loss of property rights in his wife, the wife being regarded as his chattel. Historically a wife could not sue her husband for...

. The trial began on 12 July 1786 before Sir Francis Buller

Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet

Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet was an English judge.-Life:Buller was born at Downes House in Devon, the son of James Buller, Member of Parliament for Cornwall, and his wife Lady Jane, daughter of Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst. He was educated at the King's School, Ottery St Mary, and...

, 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

Lord John Townshend

Lord John Townshend PC , styled The Honourable John Townshend until 1787, was a British Whig politician.-Background:...

.

He married again to Elizabeth Wright. They had two daughters:

• Mary (1788 – 4 February 1860), married her cousin Horatio Walpole
  Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (second creation)
  Horatio William Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford , styled Lord Walpole between 1822 and 1858, was a British peer and Conservative politician.-Background:...
  
  
• Sarah (27 May 1789 – 31 October 1817 London), born in Iping, married General Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish
  Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish
  General Henry Frederick Compton Cavendish was a British soldier, politician and courtier. He was the third son of George Cavendish, 1st Earl of Burlington and Lady Elizabeth Compton....
  
   and died in London

He inherited an estate at Iping

Iping

Iping is a village in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies within the civil parish of Stedham with Iping, just off the A272 road 2 miles west of Midhurst. The village lies on the River Rother...

 in Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

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.