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).

Fisher was born at Poulshot, Wiltshire, the son of Rev. William Fisher (1799–1874) and his wife Elizabeth Cookson (c. 1803–1851). He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford and became a tutor in 1851 becoming tutor to the future King Edward VII in 1859. He was called to the bar at Inner Temple in 1855 and served as private secretary to Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne. In 1862 he became private secretary to the Prince of Wales, his former pupil, and became Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1865, before being appointed to the position of Vice-Warden of the Stannaries, Cornwall in 1870.

Fisher married Mary Louisa Jackson (30 December 1841 – 24 August 1916) on 5 Aug 1862 in Hendon, Middlesex. She was born in Calcutta, a daughter of John Jackson, physician in the Bengal Medical Service and her sister, Julia, was the mother of Virginia Woolf. Fisher and his wife had seven sons and several daughters. The sons included historian H. A. L. Fisher, and Admiral Sir William Wordsworth Fisher. Among the daughters was Florence, Lady Darwin. Another daughter, Adeline Maria, was the first wife of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Fisher's funeral took place in Brockenhurst, Hampshire on 23 January 1903. The King and Queen were represented by Major-General Sir Stanley Clarke.