Sir Hugh Fish,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(6 January 1923 – 27 May 1999) was an English chemist who was one of the architects of the UK

water industry The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services (including sewage treatment) to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry doe ...

in the late 20th century, and was responsible for the clean-up of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

.''The Independent'' 11 June 1999
"Obituaries: Sir Hugh Fish"
"Hugh Fish, 76, Who Made Thames So Clean the Salmon Came Back"

Life

Fish was born in

Woodlesford Woodlesford () is a suburban village in the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, south-east of Leeds city centre. Formerly part of the Rothwell Urban District, Yorkshire, Rothwell Urban District, it is now within the Rothwell (ward), Roth ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

on 6 January 1923, and went to Rothwell Grammar School. He then studied chemistry at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, but broke off to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1942, serving on the Arctic convoys of World War II and rising to the rank of lieutenant by the end of the war. He completed his degree and began his professional life as a chemist. He married Nancy Asquith (died 4 October 2005''The Times'' 6 Oct 2005) in 1943 and they had two sons and a daughter. He died in

Wallingford, Oxfordshire Wallingford () is a historic market town and civil parish located between Oxford and Reading on the River Thames in England. Although belonging to the historic county of Berkshire, it is within the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire for adm ...

on 27 May 1999.

Career

He held scientific posts related to rivers and rose to become chief executive of

Thames Water Authority The Thames Water Authority was one of ten regional water authorities created in the UK on 1 April 1974 under the provisions of the Water Act 1973 to bring together all the water management functions of the region in one public body. Predece ...

from 1978 to 1984. During this period the water quality improved so that over 100 species of fish were present, and a

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

was caught in 1985. In 1976 he was appointed to the board of the

Natural Environment Research Council The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences. History NERC began in 1965 when several environmental (mainly geog ...

and was chairman for four years from 1984. He was then involved in overseeing the privatisation of the water industry as a member of the board of the

National Rivers Authority The National Rivers Authority (NRA) was one of the forerunners of the Environment Agency of England and Wales, existing between 1989 and 1996. Before 1989 the regulation of the aquatic environment had largely been carried out by the ten region ...

Honours

He received an OBE in 1971 and CBE in 1984. He was knighted in 1989. He served as President of the

Institute of Fisheries Management The Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM) is a not-for-profit membership based organisation founded in 1969 and based in the United Kingdom. Its objectives include bringing together professionals in fishery management and those with an interest ...

and was a Visiting Professor of the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...

. He was a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Instit ...

and of the Institute of Water and Environmental Management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fish, Hugh 1923 births 1999 deaths English chemists Fellows of the Royal Society of Chemistry Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Navy officers of World War II Military personnel from Yorkshire