Background
Fletcher was born in Manchester, England. He was the son of the Revd Richard Fletcher, a well-known Congregational minister who ministered in Manchester and later in Melbourne, Victoria, where he died in 1861.
Congregational minister vice-chancellor of
Fletcher was born in Manchester, England. He was the son of the Revd Richard Fletcher, a well-known Congregational minister who ministered in Manchester and later in Melbourne, Victoria, where he died in 1861.
Fletcher was educated at Silcoats School in Yorkshire, the University of Bonn, the Lancashire Independent College and Owens College (now Victoria University), Manchester.
He soon sailed for Sydney and ultimately went to Victoria where he acted as his father"s assistant in Street Kilda and Sandhurst (now Bendigo). In 1866 he removed to the Richmond suburb of Melbourne and was appointed a professor at the Congregational College of Victoria. After a tour around the world he became the minister of Stow Memorial Church in Adelaide in March 1876. in 1877.
During the last illness, and subsequent to the death of the late Professor Davidson, he was the acting Hughes Professor of English Language and Literature and Mental and Moral Philosophy.
In 1890 he was elected vice-chancellor of the university.
From 1878 he was a member of the council of the University of Adelaide, of which he was made an honorary Master of Arts