Obituaries Australia

  • Tip: searches only the name field
  • Tip: use double quotes to search for a phrase
  • Tip: lists of awards, schools, organisations etc

Browse Lists:

Cultural Advice

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains names, images, and voices of deceased persons.

In addition, some articles contain terms or views that were acceptable within mainstream Australian culture in the period in which they were written, but may no longer be considered appropriate.

These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Australian National University.

Andrew Fisher (1862–1928)

Andrew Fisher, by Swiss Studios, 190?

Andrew Fisher, by Swiss Studios, 190?

National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an23311013

Mr. Andrew Fisher, a former Labour Prime Minister of Australia, and High Commissioner in London, is dead. During an attack of influenza heart complications occurred.

Mr. Fisher was born at the little town of Crosshouse, Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1804. His father, who was a gardener, was a man of radical views, which his son inherited. As a youth he worked in coalmines in the district, and took some interest in public affairs. In 1886, when he was 22 years of age, Mr. Fisher migrated to Australia with his brother. He landed in Queensland and settled in the Burrum district, which he afterwards represented in Parliament, and engaged in mining work.

In 1888 he went to the Gympie goldfields and settled there. It was about this time that the trades union movement in Australia commenced to make itself felt as a social factor, and although he in no way sought prominence Mr. Fisher became involved, and held various offices in the Amalgamated Miners' Union. In the year 1890 the great maritime strike convulsed the whole of the country, and from that date Labour, which had been more or less attached to the skirts of the Liberal party, became a separate political unit, with its own independent aims and ideals.

In the Queensland elections of 1893 Mr. Fisher was one of the Labour members returned, being one of the two elected for Gympie. It was not a large party in the Queensland House, but Labour made up in activity what it wanted in numbers. He held his seat for only three years, being defeated after a close contest in 1896, and during his retirement from the House Mr. Fisher employed himself in mining and journalism. At the following general election in 1900 Mr. Fisher was again returned for Gympie, and during the life of this Parliament he attempted to pass a Workers' Compensation Bill, but without success.

Then came Federation, which Mr. Fisher strongly supported, and in the first Federal election was chosen for the constituency of Wide Bay, Queensland, in which Gympie was situated, and in 1903 was again returned for the same constituency. In the following year the first Labour Federal Ministry was formed by Mr. Watson, and in this Mr. Fisher was, given the portfolio of Trade and Customs. Four months later, however, the Watson Ministry was defeated, and in 1907 he retired from the leadership of the Labour party and was succeeded by Mr. Fisher. Mr. Deakin's second Government was unable to carry on after November, 1908, and Mr. Fisher then formed his first Cabinet, which held office until early in June, 1909, when it was defeated by a fusion of the Opposition parties led by Mr. Deakin and Sir Joseph Cook. In April, 1910, the Labour party was returned to power with a good majority in both Houses. Mr. Fisher held office as Prime Minister until 1913, when for a brief period Sir Joseph Cook became Prime Minister with a majority of only one in the House of Representatives. In September, 1914, immediately following the outbreak of war, a general election took place following upon a double dissolution, and Labour again returned with a majority in both Houses. Mr. Fisher formed his last Cabinet. Mr. W. M. Hughes, who was Attorney-General, succeeded Mr. Fisher as Prime Minister when the latter became High Commissioner in the following October, 1915. He held his position at Australia House until 1921, and after a brief visit to Australia returned and settled in Scotland. He made one attempt to enter the House of Commons, but his views were too moderate to find favour with the militant socialists of the Clyde.

Mr. Fisher represented Australia at the opening of the Parliament of the Union of South Africa in 1910, and was made a Privy Councillor in 1911. Mr. Fisher married in 1901, and is survived by several members of his family.

Original publication

Additional Resources and Scholarship

Related Thematic Essay

Related Entries in NCB Sites

Citation details

'Fisher, Andrew (1862–1928)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/fisher-andrew-378/text379, accessed 15 November 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Andrew Fisher, by Swiss Studios, 190?

Andrew Fisher, by Swiss Studios, 190?

National Library of Australia, nla.pic-an23311013

Life Summary [details]

Birth

29 August, 1862
Crosshouse, Ayrshire, Scotland

Death

22 October, 1928 (aged 66)
London, Middlesex, England

Cause of Death

heart disease

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation or Descriptor
Key Events
Groups
Key Places