She was born Millicent Garrett in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, in 1847, and in 1867 married the economist Henry Fawcett. As a suffragette, she took a moderate line, but was a tireless campaigner, concentrating much of her energy on the struggle to improve women's opportunities for higher education. in 1871, she co-founded Newnham College, Cambridge. She later became president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, a position she held from 1897 until 1919. She was made a Dame of the British Empire, and her memory is still preserved in the name of the Fawcett Society.