FISHER, Richard (-d.1634), of Old Street ward, Ludlow, Salop.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010
Available from Cambridge University Press

Constituency

Dates

7 Dec. 1609

Family and Education

m. by 1597, Mary (bur.12 Feb. 1632), 5s. (3 d.v.p.), 6da. (1 d.v.p.). bur. 1 Nov. 1634.1 sig. R[ichard] Fissher.

Offices Held

Freeman, Ludlow 1600, common cllr. 1601-5, chamberlain 1602-3, low bailiff 1604-5, alnager 1605-6, alderman 1608-d., high bailiff 1609-10, 1618-19, 1627-8, coroner 1610-11, 1619-20, 1621-2.2

Biography

An apothecary by trade, Fisher’s children were baptized at Ludlow from 1597, but it was only in 1600 that he became a freeman, probably to enable him to secure a shop lease from the corporation. He clearly arrived at Ludlow already established in his profession, as he joined the Common Council in 1601 and his progress up the borough’s corporate hierarchy was notably rapid. In 1602 he entertained the wife of chief justice Sir Richard Lewknor, a year later he was co-opted to consider renewal of the town charter, and in 1605 he was one of a delegation sent to London to petition for a range of minor concessions.3

As high bailiff in December 1609, Fisher was the obvious candidate to replace the deceased MP Richard Benson (who had held the same office at his return in 1604) and the corporation turned down nominations from both lord president [Ralph] Eure† and lord treasurer Salisbury (Robert Cecil†) to ensure his return. Fisher was one of the delegation sent to Bewdley to explain this decision to Eure, and at Westminster shortly thereafter he was deputed to deliver Eure a sugarloaf from the corporation as a conciliatory gesture.4 Fisher was named to the committee for the swearing bill (30 May 1610), but otherwise left no trace on the records of the two sessions in which he sat. However, the corporation paid him 2s. a day expenses for the spring session, and a similar rate for 15 days’ attendance in the autumn. While at Westminster he and his partner Robert Berry* were also delegated to follow a municipal lawsuit, and in the autumn Fisher was instructed to have the town mace repaired at London.5

Fisher never sat in Parliament again, because at the 1614 general election Berry, then high bailiff, was elected, only to be thrown out of the House for returning himself, an experience which dissuaded the corporation from returning its own members thereafter. Fisher continued as an alderman until his death, serving twice more as high bailiff. In his will of 29 Oct. 1634, he left most of his lands and his ironworks to his eldest son, Thomas, who was perhaps the man appointed Ludlow’s town preacher in 1630; he was buried three days later. None of his descendants sat in Parliament.6

Ref Volumes: 1604-1629

Author: Simon Healy

Notes

  • 1. Ludlow (Salop par. reg. soc. xiii), 116-55, 276, 279, 319, 348, 353.
  • 2. Salop RO, LB2/1/1, ff. 31v, 35v, 42, 53, 58v, 69, 80, 87, 123, 126v, 134v, 156.
  • 3. M. Faraday, Ludlow 1085-1660, pp. 31-4; Salop RO, LB2/1/1, ff. 31v, 45, 58; LB8/1/126/6-8.
  • 4. CSP Dom. 1603-10, p. 566; Salop RO, LB2/1/1, ff. 80v-2v.
  • 5. Salop RO, LB2/1/1, ff. 83-4, 88v-9.
  • 6. LUDLOW; Salop RO, LB2/1/1, ff. 99. 104v, 105v, 108v, 129, 150r-v, 158, 165v; Ludlow, 353; PROB 11/166, ff. 279v-80.