Jump to content

Hayes Fisher, 1st Baron Downham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CrumbleCrumble (talk | contribs) at 18:26, 30 July 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Downham
PC KStJ
President of the Local Government Board
In office
28 June 1917 – 4 November 1918
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith
David Lloyd George
Preceded byWalter Long
Succeeded byAuckland Geddes
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
In office
4 November 1918 – 10 January 1919
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byThe Lord Beaverbrook
Succeeded byThe Earl of Crawford
Minister of Information
In office
4 November 1918 – 10 January 1919
MonarchGeorge V
Prime MinisterDavid Lloyd George
Preceded byThe Lord Beaverbrook
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Personal details
Born18 March 1853 (1853-03-18)
Downham, Isle of Ely. Cambridgeshire
Died2 July 1920 (1920-07-03) (aged 67)
Buckingham Palace Garden, London
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
SpouseFlorence Fisher (d. 1923)
Alma materUniversity College, Oxford

William Hayes Fisher, 1st Baron Downham, PC, KStJ (1853 – 2 July 1920) was a British Conservative Party politician. He held office as President of the Local Government Board and Minister of Information in David Lloyd George's First World War coalition government.

Background and education

Born at Downham, (known now as 'Little Downham') in the Isle of Ely, Fisher was the son of Reverend Frederick Fisher, rector of that parish, and Mary, daughter of William Hayes. He was educated at Haileybury and University College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar, Inner Temple, in 1879.

Political career

"Fulham" – Fisher as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, May 1900

Fisher was elected to the House of Commons for Fulham in 1885, a seat he held until 1906.[1] He was private secretary Sir Michael Hicks Beach between 1886 and 1887 and to Arthur Balfour between 1887 and 1892 (who both served as Chief Secretary for Ireland at the time). In 1896 he was appointed a Junior Lord of the Treasury (government whip) in the Conservative administration of Lord Salisbury, a post he held until August 1902, and then served under Arthur Balfour as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 11 August 1902 to April 1903, when he resigned as a result of his connection with a financial syndicate.[2][3] He lost his Fulham seat at the 1906 general election but successfully reclaimed it at the January 1910 general election.[4] The following year he was sworn of the Privy Council.[5]

Fisher returned to the government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board in May 1915 in the newly formed coalition government led by H. H. Asquith. He retained this post also when David Lloyd George became Prime Minister in December 1916, but in June 1917 he was promoted to President of the Local Government Board with a seat in the cabinet. In November 1918 he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of Information,[6] and a few days later he was raised to the peerage as Baron Downham, of Fulham in the County of London on 16 November.[7] However, he stepped down from the government already in January 1919. Apart from his career in national politics, Fisher was an Alderman of the London County Council between 1907 and 1913 and its Chairman in 1919.

Family

Lord Downham married Florence, daughter of H. Fisher, in 1895. They had one daughter, the Hon. Rachel Fisher.

He died at Buckingham Palace Garden, London, in July 1920, when the barony became extinct. Lady Downham died in August 1923.

References

  1. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Fairfield to Fylde South". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  2. ^ "Mr Balfour´s Ministry - full list of appointments". The Times. No. 36842. London. 9 August 1902. p. 5. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
  3. ^ The New York Times, 8 April 1903
  4. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Fairfield to Fylde South". Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  5. ^ "No. 28511". The London Gazette. 7 July 1911. p. 5025.
  6. ^ "No. 31000". The London Gazette. 8 November 1918. p. 13205.
  7. ^ "No. 31019". The London Gazette. 19 November 1918. p. 13605.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Fulham
1885–1906 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Fulham
January 1910–1918 		Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1902–1903 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chairman of the Finance Committee of London County Council
1907–1911 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board
1915–1917 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Local Government Board
1917–1918 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
1918–1919 		Succeeded by
Minister of Information
1918–1919 		Office abolished
Preceded by Chairman of the London County Council
1919 – 1920 		Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Downham
1918–1921 		Extinct
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hayes_Fisher,_1st_Baron_Downham&oldid=970336781"