Isaac Fletcher (MP)

Issac Fletcher (1827 – 3 April 1879) was an ironmaster and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1879. Fletcher committed suicide by revolver.

Personal life

Fletcher was born at Creysowthen, Cumberland. His country seat was at Tarn Bank and he was a coalowner and an ironmaster. He was elected in the 1868 General Election as MP for Cockermouth as a moderate Liberal.

Isaac Fletcher had numerous business interests. He was a colliery owner. He acted as chairman of the Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway Company. He served as a justice of the peace for Cumberland.^[1]

Fletcher had interests in science, particularly astronomy. He built a private observatory at Tarn Bank initially equipped with a 4¼-inch aperture telescope of 6-foot focal length. He purchased a 9½-inch refracting telescope of 12-foot focal length from Thomas Cooke and Sons in 1857. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1849 and contributed sixteen papers to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.^[1]

Fletcher was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1855. He was also a fellow of the Geological Society of London.^[1] Fletcher had an interest in history and was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He studied the history of the industries of Cumberland.^[1]

On 3 April 1879 Fletcher committed suicide by shooting himself in the forehead, with a revolver at Morley's Hotel, London.^[2]

References

1. Hingley, Peter D. (2013). "The Shuckburghs of Shuckburgh, Isaac Fletcher, and the History of the English Mounting". The Antiquarian Astronomer. Society for the History of Astronomy. 7: 17–40. Bibcode:2013AntAs...7...17H. Retrieved 17 February 2016. See pp. 34–37.
2. "Suicide of a Member of Parliament". The Cornishman (39). 10 April 1879. p. 7.