Fawcett family

Prominent members of the family include politicians, Privy Counsellors, senior army officers and civil servants, shipping magnates, explorers and archaeologists.

The origins of the family can be traced back to Anglo-Scandinavian landlords who maintained status after the 1066 invasion of England by the Normans of France and the Harrying of the North.

[8] Ervis was the grandson of a certain Ulf, listed as the lord of Appleby-Upon-Tees and Forcett in the Domesday Book,[9] and presumably descended from a Viking family of Danish origin that settled in Yorkshire during the 9th-century Scandinavian invasions.

By the 13th century, following the First War of Scottish Independence the Fawcett family had been granted the Manor of Hertesheved[10] (Hartside) in the Breamish Valley, Northumberland with the task to oversee this area and protect the northeast borders of the Kingdom of England.

Over time the family moved from traditional farming to wool and silk trading[21] and became prominent shipping magnates[22] in East India during the XIXth and early XXth century.