Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Saturday 28 September 1907, page 9


DEATH OF MR. JOSEPH FISHER.

General regret will be felt at the announccment of the death of Mr. Joseph Fisher, one of the pioneer colonists of South Australia. During the past few days Mr Fisher suffered

from an attack of influenza. On Thursday the malady assumed a serious form, and he passed away on the evening of that day. The late Mr Fisher was born at Brighouse , Yorkshire, on September 14, 1834, and came with his parents to South Australia four years later in the Pestonjee Bomanjee , on which Governor Gawler arrived -His father took up his residence at the corner of Hindley and Morphett streets, and it was his son's pride to the end of his life that he had lived within five miles of Adelaide ever since his arrival in South Australia Alter his education at Mr J W Disher s School, in 1846 Mr Fisher obtained a situation in Mr Anthony Forster's mercantile office in Tavistock street He afterwards joined the commercial department of The Register and Observer under

Mr John Stephens, who was at that time sole proprietor In May, 1853, The Register was purchased by a proprietary of which Mr Fisher was a member, and he remained at the head of the commerciaL department until September 30 1865, when he sold his interest to Mr John Howard Clark, who subsequently became editor of The Register Since that time Mr Fisher had not been actively engaged, in any business , but had managed his own affairs and for some years attended to numerous agencies, notably that of Mr John Ridley, the inventor of the reaping machine He visited England five times and spent holidays in New Zealand and the various States of the Commonwealth. In 1868 Mr. Fisher was elected to represent Sturt in the House of Assembly , but did not seek re-election, after Sir James Ferguson dissolved the Parliament in 1870 Three years afterward, however ever, he was chosen by the whole province as a member of the Legislative Council, and retained his seat until 1881 When the term expired he sought re-election, but was defeated and, never again attempted to re-enter public life Mr Fisher was connected ed with a number of public companies and financial institutions, having been a director of the Bamk of Adelaide for about 20 years, and during part of the time its Chairman He had also been Chairman of the Port Adelaide Dock Company and the Adelaide Marine Insurance Company At the time of his death he was a director of the South Australian Gas Company, and had a seat on the directorate of the South

Australian Company. Mr Fisher was Chairman of the local board of the Mortgage Companv of South Australia The company went into liquidation in 1905, and Mr Fisher acted for it until the appointment of an attorney in March. 1906 He was always greatly interested in cricket, and was a Vice President of the Cricketing Association for nearly a quarter of a century A particularly interesting fact in Mr Fisher's life was, that he was ' part owner of the ship Hesperns, one of the finest clippers that ever traded between Australia and England, which was subsequently sold for use as a training ship for the sons of English gentlemen In 1857 Mr Fisher married Miss Farrar, a daughter of a highly respected Melbourne merchant, and the home which he formed at Woodfield, Fnllarton, had been his chief delight since. In his later years he spent several hours daily in his garden, and was never happier than when tending his roses and fruit trees or enjoying the companionship of his wife and family The plain but substantial house which Mr Fisher purchased over 50 years ago is, still in good repair and constitutes a portion of the larger structure, which was erected more than 20 years ago Mr Fisher 'was always a patron of local art, and numerous South Australian artists are represented in his collection of paintings. In 1903 the deceased gentleman sent to The Register a cheque for a number of philanthropic donations which he had decided to give to charitable and other public purposes- He said he had made provision in his will for these, but had been led by several considerations to anticipate the date, on which effect could be given to that document. One of them was the deduction of 10 per cent succession duty on moneys left to charity, which he regarded as an unjust and unwise exaction , and one tending to check the flow of public spirited benevolence The list amounted to £3,315. and was headed by

£1000 to the Adelaide University and £500 to the Public Library Art Gallery. The late Mr Fisher was a man highly respected in business and private life, and though in recent years he had taken little active part in public affairs, in his earlier political career he expressed himself as sternly opposed to many of the political ideals which have since found favour in certain quarters and refused to shirk what he deemed to be his duties and responsibilities merely to retain his seat He was at all times plain spoken and was not the man to make compromises of principle for the sake of securing any private advantage He always manifested a deep interest in the district in which he dwelt, and progressive municipal movements found in him a warm supporter The deceased has left a widow, two sons — Messrs F J Fisher and Harold Fisher— and one daughter— Mrs W CaIross. At the meeting of the Sturt Club on Friday evening it was decided to send a letter of condolence to Mrs Fisher on the death of Mr Fisher who was one of the trustees of the club