Early life

He was the M.P.

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Warwick

Warwick (UK Parliament constituency)

Warwick was a parliamentary borough consisting of the town of Warwick, within the larger Warwickshire constituency of England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1295 to 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and then to the...

, was of obscure origin and usually known by the name of Fisher, because his father was a fishmonger in Warwick. His ability recommended him to John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, then Viscount Lisle, who took him into his service, and on 4 May, 34 Hen. VIII, constituted him high steward and bailiff of his manor of Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire. For his exercise of that office during life Fisher had an annuity granted to him, which was confirmed in the reign of Mary I.

Dissolution of the monasteries

He contrived to accumulate a vast estate in monastery and church lands. In 38 Hen. VIII he obtained the site of St Sepulchre's Priory, Warwick, with the lands adjacent, and proceeded to pull the monastery to the ground, raising in the place of it a house Hawkyns-nest, or Hawks-nest, also the 'Priory'; now the estate is Priory Park

Priory Park, Warwick

Priory Park is an urban park located in the centre of Warwick, England. Originally the land was the grounds of a 12th century priory dedicated to St Sepulchre and built in 1124 but this was closed down by King Henry VIII during the dissolution of the Monasteries...

. In 1 Edward VI, Bishop's Itchington

Bishop's Itchington

Bishop's Itchington is a village and civil parish about southeast of Royal Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, England.The village is on the B4451 road about southwest of Southam, and about northeast of Junction 12 on the M40 motorway...

, Warwickshire, being alienated to him from the see of Coventry and Lichfield, he made an 'absolute depopulation' of that part called Nether Itchington, and demolished the church for the purpose of building a large manor-house on its site. He also changed the name of the village to Fisher's Itchington.

Secretary to Somerset and Scottish war

Fisher, who was now the chief citizen of Warwick, was secretary to the Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....

, protector of England. There is a tradition that he was colonel of a regiment in the English army at the battle of Pinkie, on 10 September 1547. Towards the end of June 1548 he was commissioned by Somerset to travel north to Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury

Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury

Francis Talbot, 5th Earl of Shrewsbury, 5th Earl of Waterford, 11th Baron Talbot KG was the son of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury and Anne Hastings....

 and William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton

William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton

William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton KG, was an English baron and military commander serving in France in the 1540s and 1550s, and in the Scottish wars of the 1540s.He was the thirteenth Baron Grey de Wilton....

, with instructions for the defence of Haddington, and for the other manoeuvres of the army in Scotland. He was also to go to Sir John Luttrell

John Luttrell (soldier)

Sir John Luttrell was an English soldier, diplomat, and courtier under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He served under Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford in Scotland and France...

 at Broughty, and with him and Patrick Gray, 4th Lord Gray

Patrick Gray, 4th Lord Gray

Patrick Gray, 4th Lord Gray was a Scottish landowner and Sheriff of Angus active during the war of the Rough Wooing as a supporter of the Scottish Reformation.-Family:...

 of Scotland to devise a means of communicating with Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll

Gillespie Roy Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll was a Scottish nobleman and politician.-Biography:He was the eldest son of Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll and Jean Gordon, daughter of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly...

 for negotiations.

In March 1549 he was appointed along with Sir John Luttrell to confer with Argyll and other Scotch nobles for the return of Mary, Queen of Scots from France and 'accomplishment of the godly purpose of marriage'. His health gave way, and he complained in letter to William Cecil

William Cecil

William Cecil may refer to:* Lord William Cecil , British royal courtier* William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , English politician and advisor to Elizabeth I* William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter , Knight of the Garter...

, dated from Enderwick, 17 September 1549.

In 6 Edward VI he had a grant of the bailiwick of Banbury

Banbury

Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

. He was also made collector of the king's revenue within the borough and hundred, and governor of Banbury Castle

Banbury Castle

Banbury Castle was a medieval castle that stood near the centre of the town of Banbury, Oxfordshire. Historian John Kenyon notes that the castle is "remarkable for its early concentric shape".-History:...

.

Under Mary I

It was rumoured that the Duke of Northumberland, anticipating want of money to pay the forces which would be required in the event of his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...

 being proclaimed queen, gave a large sum to Fisher's keeping, which was hidden by him in Bishop's Itchington pool. After the attainder and execution of the Duke in 1553, Fisher was questioned about the money by orders from the queen, but he refused to deliver it up; his fingers were pulled out of joint by the rack

Rack (torture)

The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one, or both, ends, having at one end a fixed bar to which the legs were fastened, and at the other a movable bar to which the hands were tied...

.

Fisher represented Warwick in the second parliament of Mary, 1554, and in the first (1554), second (1555), and third (1557-8) of Philip and Mary

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

.

Under Elizabeth I

In 1571, when Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...

, celebrated the Order of St. Michael in the collegiate church of Warwick, the bailiff and burgesses of the borough were invited to attend the Earl from the Priory, where he was Fisher's guest for six or seven days; and from there they went in grand procession to the church. Just after the ceremony, at which he had been present, William Parr, marquis of Northampton died suddenly at the Priory.

The following year Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 paid a sudden visit to the Priory, when returning to Warwick from Kenilworth

Kenilworth

Kenilworth is a town in central Warwickshire, England. In 2001 the town had a population of 22,582 . It is situated south of Coventry, north of Warwick and northwest of London....

, on Saturday night, 17 August. She had dined with Fisher's son, Edward, at his house at Itchington on the Monday previously. After supping with Mrs. Fisher and her company, her majesty withdrew for to visiting Fisher, afflicted with gout

Gout

Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...

. He vowed tp be on horseback when she travelled on. He attended the queen on her return to Kenilworth and rode in company with Lord Burghley.

Death

Fisher died 12 January 1577, and was buried at the upper end of the north aisle in St. Mary's Church, Warwick. His tomb, which bore the recumbent effigies of himself and his first wife Winifred, daughter of William Holt, probably perished in the fire of 1694; it was engraved by Wenceslas Hollar

Wenceslas Hollar

Václav Hollar , known in England as Wenceslaus or Wenceslas and in Germany as Wenzel Hollar , was a Bohemian etcher, who lived in England for much of his life...

.

Fisher is sometimes mistaken for the John Fisher

John Fisher (writer)

John Fisher was bailiff of Warwick and a writer.Fisher compiled the 'Black Book of Warwick' in 1565. He is sometimes mistaken for Thomas Fisher, MP for Warwick.-References:...

 who compiled the 'Black Book of Warwick.' The latter was in all probability John Fisher, bailiff of Warwick, in 1565.

Family

He married Katherine, daughter of Sir Richard Longe, by whom he had issue, Thomas, John, Dorothy, and Katherine.

His son and heir, Edward Fisher, was thirty years old at the time of his father's death. His inheritance, William Dugdale

William Dugdale

Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...

 states, was then worth £3,000 a year, but he soon squandered it, and hastened his ruin by making a fraudulent conveyance to deceive Serjeant John Puckering

John Puckering

Sir John Puckering was a lawyer, politician, Speaker of the English House of Commons, and Lord Keeper from 1592 until his death...

, to whom in 23 Elizabeth he sold the Priory and lands adjoining. The serjeant commenced a prosecution against him in the Star Chamber; in which the Earl of Leicester interposed. Fisher ultimately consented that an act of parliament should be made to confirm the estate to Puckering, but being encumbered with debts he was committed to the Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison

Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...

, where he spent the rest of his life.