The Life and Legacy of Admiral Lord ‘Jacky’ Fisher - filming at the Churchill Archive Centre in Cambridge

What an exciting day my father Patrick Fisher and I had in preparation for the event to be held on 20th October - ‘A Veritable Volcano: The Life and Legacy of Admiral Lord ‘Jacky’ Fisher. We spent the day filming at the Churchill Archive Centre in Cambridge.

The event on 20th is being held to mark the centenary of Fisher’s death and to celebrate the transfer of new material to the Churchill Archives Centre. The speakers at the event will include:

Professor Andrew Lambert, Dr John Brooks, Professor Matthew Seligmann, Captain Peter Hore, Professor Barry Gough, Penelope Fisher (filmmaker and Fisher’s great great granddaughter) Rear Admiral Chris Parry, Dr Laura Rowe,Tom Williams (Scriptwriter ‘Sea Lord’) and Admiral Sir Jock Slater (former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff).

We recorded an interview with Patrick Fisher and myself discussing Jacky and our family connection. We were both a little out of our comfort zone being in front of the camera however I’m sure Jacky would not have been - he would have enjoyed the attention and showing off his work and regaling his stories!

It was a amazing day where we showcased Jacky’s personal photo albums, his books, midshipman notes, academic notebooks, drawings, paintings, letters, and the press cuttings we have. These have never been seen by the public before. It is fascinating to talk to my father about sharing personal items, how he feels about it and what he thinks Jacky would have thought about everything. I feel very honoured to be part of the Fisher family and I really appreciate the value of these historical items. I am looking forward to the public seeing the man behind the infamous navy career.

Patrick Fisher would like to transfer the family material to the Churchill Archive Centre to join Jacky’s books, papers, correspondence letters and all the other documents which he left in his will to Nina, Duchess of Hamilton on his death.

From the collection you will be able to get a more rounded picture of Jacky from his personal to his professional life, this is why I am working to get ‘Sea Lord’ the historical biopic made so the world can celebrate and learn more about this tremendous and controversial man.

We are looking forward to the event on 20th October.

Penelope Fisher

13/10/20

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1910. Admiral Lord John Fisher Aide de Camp. King Edward VII Funeral.