John Fisher was the eldest son of John Fisher, rector of
Calbourne, Isle of Wight. He was educated at
Peterborough,
St Paul's School and
Peterhouse, Cambridge. Graduating BA as 10th
Wrangler in 1770, he gained his MA and became a Fellow of
St John's College in 1773. In 1780 he was appointed Preceptor to
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and in 1781 chaplain to
King George III and
Deputy Clerk of the Closet, a post he held until 1785. In 1786 he was made
Canon of
St George's Chapel, Windsor, and in 1805 was appointed
Preceptor to
Charlotte, Princess Royal, the only child of the Prince of Wales, the future George IV. Fisher also served as Chancellor of the
Most Noble Order of the Garter. , nephew of the Bishop, by
John Constable, 1816 (
Fitzwilliam Museum) He was consecrated
Bishop of Exeter in 1803 and translated to
Bishop of Salisbury in 1807, a position he held until his death in 1825. As Bishop of Salisbury he was also
ex officio Chancellor of the Order of the Garter. He is also notable for his friendship with the painter
John Constable, presiding at Constable's wedding and commissioning his
Salisbury Cathedral. Over time, Fisher became Constable's biggest patron and a close friend. Fisher himself was often called 'King's Fisher,' in reference to his connection to the Royal Family, and his patronage was a valuable asset to Constable. Later, Fisher introduced the painter to Fisher's nephew, another
John Fisher, the son of Fisher's brother Philip,
Master of the
Charterhouse School of London. The younger John Fisher (later the
Archdeacon of Berkshire) became the painter's best friend and another important patron. The painter spent his honeymoon at the younger John Fisher's home in
Osmington, Dorset. Relations between the Fisher families and the painter were such that biographer
C. R. Leslie based much of his work on Constable –
Memoirs of the Life of John Constable of 1843 – on correspondence between the Fishers and the painter. On Fisher's death, Constable commemorated him in a painting with a rainbow alighting on Fisher's house in the Cathedral Close, Leaden Hall, now part of
Salisbury Cathedral School. He is buried in
St George's Chapel, Windsor. There is a
funerary monument to him in Salisbury Cathedral sculpted by
William Osmond. ==Family==