William Hayes Fisher, 1st Baron Downham, PC, KStJ (1853 – 2 July 1920) was a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He held office as

President of the Local Government Board The President of the Local Government Board was a ministerial post, frequently a Cabinet position, in the United Kingdom, established in 1871. The Local Government Board itself was established in 1871 and took over supervisory functions from the Bo ...

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 The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

, Inner Temple, in 1879.

Political career

William Hayes Fisher Vanity Fair 1900-05-03

Fisher was elected to the House of Commons for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in 1885, a seat he held until 1906. He was private secretary

Sir Michael Hicks Beach Michael Edward Hicks Beach, 1st Earl St Aldwyn, (23 October 1837 – 30 April 1916), known as Sir Michael Hicks Beach, Bt, from 1854 to 1906 and subsequently as The Viscount St Aldwyn to 1915, was a British Conservative politician. Known as " ...

between 1886 and 1887 and to Arthur Balfour between 1887 and 1892 (who both served as

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant", from the early 19th century un ...

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. He lost his Fulham seat at the

1906 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1906. Asia * 1906 Persian legislative election Europe * 1906 Belgian general election * 1906 Croatian parliamentary election * Denmark ** 1906 Danish Folketing election ** 1906 Danish Landsting ele ...

but successfully reclaimed it at the

January 1910 general election The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominat ...

. The following year he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

. Fisher returned to the government as

Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

in May 1915 in the newly formed coalition government led by

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom f ...

. He retained this post also when David Lloyd George became Prime Minister in December 1916, but in June 1917 he was promoted to

with a seat in the cabinet. In November 1918 he was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister of Information, and a few days later he was raised to the peerage as Baron Downham, ''of

in the County of London'' on 16 November. 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

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Downham, William Hayes Fisher, 1st Baron 1853 births 1920 deaths Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Fisher, Hayes Fisher, Hayes Fisher, Hayes Fisher, Hayes Fisher, Hayes Fisher, Hayes Fisher, Hayes UK MPs who were granted peerages Fisher, Hayes Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster People from Downham Market Barons created by George V