The Hon ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

Charles Douglas Fisher, (8 October 1921 – 5 December 1978) was the English-born Australian

headmaster A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...

Scotch College, Adelaide Scotch College is an Independent school, independent, Uniting Church of Australia, Uniting Church, co-educational, Day school, day and boarding school, located on two adjacent campuses in Torrens Park, South Australia, Torrens Park and Mitcham, ...

(1962–1969), Church of England Grammar School, Brisbane (1970–1973) and

Geelong Grammar School Geelong Grammar School is a private Anglican co-educational boarding and day school. The school's main campus is located in Corio on the northern outskirts of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, overlooking Corio Bay and Limeburners Bay. Establ ...

(1974–1978).

Early life

Fisher was born in 1921 in

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 census was 2,707, increasing to 2 ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, the son of the Rev

Geoffrey Fisher Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Baron Fisher of Lambeth, (5 May 1887 – 15 September 1972) was an English Anglican priest, and 99th Archbishop of Canterbury, serving from 1945 to 1961. From a long line of parish priests, Fisher was educated at Marl ...

(1887–1972) and his wife Rosamond Chevallier (née Forman) (1890–1986). At the time of his birth Geoffrey Fisher was the headmaster of

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 co-educational, private, boarding and day school in the public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, England. Sir John Port of Etwall, on his death in 1557, left funds to create a grammar school which was th ...

; he would subsequently be appointed

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. An older brother, Henry, would become a High Court judge, Henry Fisher. The young Charles was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and was then commissioned into the

Royal Regiment of Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1941. After the War, he studied at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

(BA 1948, MA 1953).

Career

Fisher began his teaching career at

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

(1948–1955). His wife, whom he had married in 1952, was from

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

, and from 1955 to 1961 Fisher was senior master at

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

at Marandellas. Returning briefly to England, he taught at

Kent College Kent College, Canterbury is a co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils between the ages of 3 months and 18 years. It was founded in 1885, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Originally establis ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

and

Sherborne School Sherborne School is a full-boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 located beside Sherborne Abbey in the Dorset town of Sherborne. The school has been in continuous operation on the same site for over 1,300 years. It was founded in 705 AD by Ald ...

, before emigrating to Australia in 1962 to become headmaster of

, travelling on the SS ''Oronsay''. In retirement, Lord Fisher (as Geoffrey Fisher was by then) lived for a time with his son in Adelaide. Charles Fisher was then successively headmaster of Church of England Grammar School, Brisbane, (1970–1973) and

(1974–1978). In 1976, under Fisher, Geelong Grammar became fully co-educational by merging with The Hermitage and Clyde School. Fisher Library at Geelong Grammar is named after him. (It is not to be confused with

Fisher Library The University of Sydney Library is the library system of the University of Sydney. It comprises eight locations across several campuses of the university. Its largest library, Fisher Library, is named after Thomas Fisher, an early benefactor. ...

, at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, which is named after a benefactor, Thomas Fisher.) The chapel at Scotch College, Adelaide, which Fisher had built, was renamed the Charles Fisher Memorial Chapel. There is a tablet to Fisher's memory at St Andrew's Church,

Trent, Dorset Trent is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in northwest Dorset, England, situated in the River Yeo (South Somerset), Yeo valley northwest of Sherborne and four miles northeast of Yeovil. It was in Somerset until 1896.Betjema ...

, where both his parents are buried.

Personal life

In 1952 Fisher married Anne Gilmour Hammond at

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

. They had four sons and two daughters. Fisher died in 1978, when, en route to Timbertop, his car hit a tree near Kanumbra. He was cremated. In 1983 his widow remarried, to the scientist

Basil Hetzel Basil Stuart Hetzel (13 June 1922 – 4 February 2017) was an Australian medical researcher who made a major contribution to combating iodine deficiency, a major cause of goitre and cretinism worldwide. Early life and education Hetzel was bo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Charles 1921 births 1978 deaths Australian headmasters 20th-century Australian educators Alumni of Keble College, Oxford English emigrants to Australia People from Geelong People educated at Marlborough College