Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher H.A.L. Fisher: ''A History of Europe, Volume II: From the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century to 1935'', Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1984, p. i. (21 March 1865 – 18 April 1940) was an English historian, educator, and Liberal politician. He served as

President of the Board of Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...

Background and education

Fisher was born on 21 March 1865, in London,Herbert Fisher
/ref> the eldest son of

Herbert William Fisher Herbert William Fisher (30 July 1826 – 17 January 1903) was a British historian, best known for his book ''Considerations on the Origin of the American War'' (1865). Life He was born at Poulshot, Wiltshire, the eldest son of Rev. William Fis ...

(1826–1903), author of ''Considerations on the Origin of the American War'' and his wife Mary Louisa Jackson (1841–1916). His sister Adeline Maria Fisher was the first wife of the composer

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, another sister

Florence Henrietta Fisher Florence Henrietta Darwin, Lady Darwin (''née'' Fisher, previously Maitland; 31 January 18645 March 1920), was an English playwright. Early life Florence Henrietta Fisher was born in Kensington, London, to Herbert William Fisher and his wife Mar ...

married both

Frederic William Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and jurist who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. From 1884 until his death in 1906, he was reader in English law, then Downing Professor of the Laws ...

and

Sir Francis Darwin Sir Francis Darwin (16 August 1848 – 19 September 1925) was a British botanist. He was the third son of the naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin. Biography Francis Darwin was born at Down House, Downe, Kent in 1848. He was the third s ...

. His sister Cordelia Fisher married the author, critic and journalist

Richard Curle Richard Curle (1883–1968) was a Scottish author, critic, and journalist. He was a friend of the novelist Joseph Conrad, who was also the subject of several of his critical works. Conrad and Curle became friends in the 1910s, becoming especiall ...

and was the mother of the academic

Adam Curle Charles Thomas William Curle (4 July 1916 – 28 September 2006), better known as Adam Curle, was a British academic, known for his work in social psychology, pedagogy, development studies and peace studies. After holding posts at the University ...

. Fisher was a first cousin of

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

and her sister

Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...

(the children of his mother's sister Julia). He was educated at

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

, where he graduated with a first class degree in 1888 and was awarded a fellowship.

Career

Fisher was a tutor in modern history at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. His publications include ''Bonapartism'' (1908), ''The Republican Tradition in Europe'' (1911) and ''Napoleon'' (1913). In September 1912, he was appointed (with

Lord Islington John Poynder Dickson-Poynder, 1st Baron Islington (31 October 1866 – 6 December 1936), born John Poynder Dickson and known as Sir John Poynder Dickson-Poynder from 1884 to 1910, was a British politician. He was Governor of New Zealand between 1 ...

Lord Ronaldshay Marquess of Zetland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 22 August 1892 for the former Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lawrence Dundas, 3rd Earl of Zetland. Zetland is an archaic form of Shetland. The Dundas family des ...

, Justice Abdur Rahim, and others) as a member of the

Royal Commission on the Public Services in India The Royal Commission on Public Services in India, also known as the Islington Commission was carried out under the Chairmanship of Lord Islington. It made the following recommendations in its report submitted in 1917:1. Recruitment to the super ...

of 1912–1915. Between 1913 and 1917, he was

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

.Helen Mathers: ''Steel City Scholars: The Centenary History of the University of Sheffield'', London: James & James, 2005 In December 1916 Fisher was elected Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam and joined the government of

. He was sworn of the Privy Council the same month. In this post he was instrumental in the formulation of the

Education Act 1918 The Education Act 1918 ( 8 & 9 Geo. 5. c. 39), often known as the Fisher Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was drawn up by H. A. L. Fisher. Herbert Lewis, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education, also played ...

, which made school attendance compulsory for children up to the age of 14. Fisher was also responsible for the School Teachers (Superannuation) Act 1918, which provided pension provision for all teachers. In 1918, he became MP for the

Combined English Universities Combined English Universities was a university constituency represented in the United Kingdom Parliament (from 1918 until 1950). It was formed by enfranchising and combining all the English universities, except for Cambridge, Oxford and London ...

. Fisher resigned his seat in parliament through appointment as

Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds Appointment to the position of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds (or the Three Hundreds of Chiltern) is a procedural device to allow members of Parliament (MPs) to resign from the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Since ...

on 15 February 1926, retiring from politics to take up the post of warden of

, which he held until his death. There he published a three-volume ''History of Europe'' () in 1935. He served on the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, the

Rhodes Trust Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* ...

ees, the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

, the Governing Body of Winchester, the

London Library The London Library is an Subscription library, independent lending library in London, established in 1841. Membership is open to all, on payment of an annual subscription, with life and corporate memberships also available. As of December 2023 ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. He was awarded the 1927

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

for his biography ''James Bryce, Viscount Bryce of Dechmont, O.M.'' and received the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

in 1937. In 1939, he was appointed first Chairman of the Appellate Tribunal for

Conscientious Objectors A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or freedom of religion, religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for ...

in England and Wales. Fisher died in

St Thomas's Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, together with Guy's Hospital, Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospit ...

, London, on 18 April 1940, aged 75, after having been knocked down by a lorry and seriously injured the previous week,"Obituaries." Times ondon, England19 April 1940: 9. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' Digital Archive. Web. 29 May 2012 while on his way to sit on a

Conscientious Objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s' Tribunal during the

blackout Blackout(s), black out, or The Blackout may refer to: Loss of lighting or communication * Power outage, a loss of electric power * Blackout (broadcasting), a regulatory or contractual ban on the broadcasting of an event * Blackout (fabric), a t ...

. Some of his possessions, including his library and some of his clothing, remained at New College. In 1943,

Operation Mincemeat Operation Mincemeat was a successful British disinformation, deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. Two members of British intelligence obtained the body of Glyndwr Michael, a tramp who die ...

, a British Intelligence operation to deceive enemy forces, undertook the invention of a false

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

officer, whose body was to be dropped at sea in the hope the false intelligence it carried would be believed. As the fictitious Major Martin was to be a man of some means, he required quality underwear, but with rationing this was difficult to obtain, and the intelligence officers were unwilling to donate their own. Fisher's was obtained, and the corpse used in the deception, dressed in Fisher's quality woollen underpants, succeeded in misleading German Intelligence.''Operation Mincemeat'',

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, 22 February 2011

Family

Fisher married the economist and historian Lettice Ilbert (1875–1956) in 1899. Their only child was the British academic Mary Bennett. She was interviewed, in October 1974, about her parents, by the historian, Brian Harrison, as part of the Suffrage Interviews project, titled ''Oral evidence on the suffragette and suffragist movements: the Brian Harrison interviews.'' Bennett talks about Fisher's support for his wife, and their shared interests in Oxford, Suffragism and Liberal politics, as well as their friendship with

Gilbert Murray George Gilbert Aimé Murray (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greec ...

and Sir Lady Murray.

Portraits

A portrait drawing of Fisher by Catharine Dodgson and an oil portrait by

William Nicholson (artist) Sir William Newzam Prior Nicholson (5 February 1872 – 16 May 1949) was a British painter of still-life, landscape and portraits. He also worked as a printmaker in techniques including woodcut, wood-engraving and lithography, as an illustrato ...

hang at

. The college also possess a conversation piece by Berthe Noufflard of Fisher, Lettice Ilbert, and Mary Bennett.

Works

''The Medieval Empire,''Vol. 2
Macmillan & Co., 1898.
''Studies in Napoleonic Statesmanship: Germany,''
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.
''The History of England, from the Accession of Henry VII to the Death of Henry VIII, 1485–1547,''
Longmans, Green & Co., 1906.
''Bonapartism; Six Lectures Delivered in the University of London,''
Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1908.
''The Republican Tradition in Europe,''
Methuen & Co., 1911. * st Pub. 1912 *
''Studies in History and Politics,''
Oxford : The Clarendon Press, 1920.
''The Common Weal,''
Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1924.
Bryce''
2 vols. London: Macmillan, 1927.
''Our New Religion''
Ernest Benn, 1929. An examination of

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...

.This particular copy from the

Wellcome Library The Wellcome Library is a free library and Museum based in central London. It was developed from the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853–1936), whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the ...

belonged to

Charles Kellaway Charles Halliley Kellaway, (16 January 1889 – 13 December 1952) was an Australian medical researcher and science administrator. Biography Early years and education Charles Kellaway was born at the parsonage attached to St James's Old Cathe ...

, complete with a Sydney bookseller's stamp. *
volume 2

Articles

''"Fustel de Coulanges"''
The English Historical Review, Vol. V, 1890.
"The Codes"
in ''The Cambridge Modern History'', vol. ix, Cambridge: University Press, 1906.
''"The Political Writings of Rousseau"''
The Edinburgh Review, Vol. CCXXIV, N°. 457, July 1916. * "The Whig Historians", in ''Proceedings of the British Academy'', n. 14, 1928. *
"A Universal Historian"
in ''The Nineteenth Century and After'', vol. 116, no. 694, December, London: Constable, 1934.

Pamphlets

''The Value of Small States,''
Oxford Pamphlets, N°. 17, Oxford University Press, 1914.
''The British Share in the War,''
T. Nelson & Sons, 1915.
''Political Prophecies. An Address to the Edinburg Philosophical Society Delivered Nov. 5, 1918,''
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1919. * ''The Place of the University in National Life,'' Oxford University Press, 1919. * ''Paul Valéry,'' Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1927. * ''What to Read on Citizenship,'' Leeds, Jowett & Sowry Ltd., 1928.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Herbert Albert 1865 births 1940 deaths 19th-century English historians 20th-century English historians British Secretaries of State for Education Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Members of the Order of Merit Academics of the University of Sheffield Wardens of New College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society (Statute 12) Road incident deaths in London Academics from London Politics of Sheffield UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 Presidents of the British Academy James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the Combined English Universities Fellows of the British Academy National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians Vice-chancellors of the University of Sheffield Historians of the University of Oxford