Henry Fishwick

Lt-Col Henry Halliwell Fishwick (9 March 1835 – 23 September 1914) was a British soldier, politician and antiquary. After a military career, he became a Liberal Party Councillor (1871–1914) and twice Mayor of Rochdale (1903–1905). He was also author and editor of several books on Lancashire and was a founding member of three of the county's historical societies.

Background Fishwick was the son of Henry Halliwell Fishwick (1800–72) of Brownhill, Rochdale, and his wife Jane Fishwick (1800–64), and was born on 9 March 1835. At the age of eighteen, he became the secretary of the Rochdale branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was a prominent Freemason: being admitted, passed, and raised as a Master Mason in the Lodge of Harmony No. 298, Rochdale. At the age of twenty-two in 1857–58, he was elected as Worshipful Master of the Lodge, and was involved in preparations for the Lodge's relocation to new rooms in Ann Street, Rochdale in 1859.

Soldier Fishwick was one of the earliest supporters of the Volunteer Force movement in Rochdale and, when a corps was formed, he joined as a Lieutenant (1860). He was later promoted to Major, and then commanding officer. From 1871, as lieutenant colonel, he was attached to the Eighth (King's) Regiment (stationed in Salford). In 1909, he was elected President of the Association of Education Committees of England and Wales.

He was twice elected Mayor of Rochdale (in 1903–04 and 1904–05), also serving as a borough magistrate and county JP for Lancashire. In 1906, he was honoured with the Honorary Freedom of the borough, and was known as the ‘Father of the Council’. In 1911, Fishwick was honoured by a Public testimonial presented by Lord Sheffield.

Antiquary Fishwick was a frequent contributor of papers on various subjects to Transactions of Rochdale Literary and Scientific Society (1880–6) and Transactions of Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (1884–1910). He edited several volumes for the Chetham Society and Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, and was the author of several parish histories: Goosnargh (1871), Kirkham (1874), Garstang (1878–79), Rochdale (1889), as well as other works.

Fishwick was a member of several societies: Manchester Arts Club (Founding Member and chairman); Chetham Society (Council Member, 1875–1901, and Vice-President, 1901–14); Rochdale Literary and Scientific Society (Founder Member (1878), President and Vice-President); Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire (Founder Member, Vice-President, 1878–95, 1904–14, and President, 1895–1904); Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire (Council Member, 1880–1914); Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society (founding member, Council Member, 1883–1914, Vice-President, and President, 1897–98); and Lancashire Parish Register Society (founding member and President, 1897–1914). He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Royal Historical Society. The funeral service was followed by his interment at Rochdale Cemetery on 26 September 1914. Probate for Fishwick's estate (valued at £3,013 4s. 7d.) was granted at Manchester, on 16 October 1914, to his daughters Henrietta and Janet and the insurance agent Thomas Southall Parker. On her death in 1944, his daughter Janet bequeathed to the John Rylands Library, Manchester, a collection of deeds and documents relating to Rochdale and other districts and counties from 1541 to 1822 which now form the Fishwick Deeds in the Rylands Charters (RYCH/4613–4702).

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