Transcript

of

Arthur Fisher [Obituary]

Trans. Devon. Assoc., 48, (1916), pp. 46-47.

by

Maxwell Adams (Ed.)

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1916 Plymouth meeting. A searchable copy of “The Register of Blundell's School:  With Introduction and Appendices” by Arthur Fisher (Hon. Treasurer of the Old Blundellian Club). Part 1., is available from the Internet Archive.The obituary, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Arthur Fisher, who died at Tiverton on the 15th July, 1916, at the age of 56, became a member of the Association in 1903. He was the youngest son of Stephen Fisher, confidential manager to the late Sir John Amory and Messrs. Heathcoat & Co., was educated at Blundell's School, and was articled as a solicitor to Mr. F. S. Dayman, with whom in due course he became a partner, until Mr. Dayman's retirement, after which he remained in practice alone. An able lawyer, he was for several years on the Committee of the Devon and Exeter Law Association, Vice-President in 1907-8, and President 1909-10.
His public services, especially to his native town, were many and varied. He served in the Tiverton Volunteer Corps (E Company), of which he was for several years the Commanding Officer, and at the outbreak of the great European War, in 1914, was instrumental in raising a company of National Reservists, 150 strong. For 20 years he was the Hon. Secretary of the Tiverton Hospital. As a Governor of Blundell's School and as Treasurer of the Old Blundellian Club, he did much to develop the resources and extend the fame of that School, one of his literary works being the compilation and publication of the School Register from 1770 to 1882.
In 1907 he was appointed H.M. Coroner for the Borough of Tiverton in succession to Mr. L. Mackenzie, and as Solicitor and Secretary to the Church Lands Trustees he was concerned with the administration of the endowments of the chief parochial charities of Tiverton.
Mr. Fisher was a brilliant speaker, a clever writer, and an acknowledged authority on the history and antiquities of Tiverton, and embodied the result of his researches in various lectures and contributions to the Press. He was also a great traveller, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a member of the Hakluyt Society.
Among his varied accomplishments was included a marked proficiency in the game of chess, and more than once he met and defeated some of the prominent players of his day.
He married in 1896 Marion, daughter of Major Braddon, of Hartnolls, Tiverton, who together with four children survive him. His eldest son obtained an Indian Army cadetship from Blundell's School.