His term of office began shortly after the start of the Second World War, and his organising skills were required to keep the diocese functioning despite the devastation of the London Blitz.

He worked continually to build bridges to other Christian churches, and in 1960 became the first Archbishop of Canterbury to meet a Pope since the English Reformation, more than four centuries earlier.

His predecessor and his successor at Canterbury – Temple and Michael Ramsey – were known for scholarly spirituality; Fisher was distinguished by a simple faith combined with outstanding organisational flair.

[7] He accepted an invitation from Fletcher to return to Marlborough as a member of the teaching staff, remaining there for three years, during which time he went to Wells Theological College during the long summer vacation in 1911, and was ordained deacon in 1912, and priest in 1913.

[5] In 1914 William Temple, the headmaster of Repton School, was appointed rector of the prominent parish of St James's, Piccadilly in London.

[9] As well as coping with a reduced staff and apprehension and restlessness among the pupils, Fisher had to deal with the mixed legacy he had inherited from his predecessor.

His biographer Alan Webster writes: Among Fisher's pupils at Repton were Stuart Hampshire and Roald Dahl, both of whom complained that his personally administered beatings had been cruel.

Lang was impressed enough to put Fisher's name on the short list (of two candidates) when the see of Chester became vacant on the retirement of Luke Paget.

He pointed out the discrepancies in the remuneration of the clergy, with some of them extremely poorly paid;[n 5] he drew attention to the lack of a consistent appointment system; he intervened to save the Church Training College in Chester from threatened closure; strengthened the financial administration of the diocese; and campaigned for financial support of church schools, overseas missions and the widows of clergy.

[5] In Webster's summary, "He was a confident bishop, never doubting the natural and pastoral role of the established church or experiencing the post-1900 questionings in philosophy and theology.

After much private prayer, and reassurance from colleagues, he accepted and was enthroned as Bishop of London in St Paul's Cathedral in November 1939.

Webster writes that Fisher showed courtesy, skill, and determination in "defeating ultra-conservative attitudes which would have prevented any episcopal intervention even in severely blitzed areas".

[5] Fisher, in the words of The Times, went about his duties "with a calm diligence which won general respect" and returned each night to sleep in the cellar at Fulham Palace.

[15] The war and the leadership of Temple – who succeeded Lang at Canterbury in 1942 – had begun to improve relations between the various Christian churches – Anglican, Roman Catholic and noncomformist.

Though firmly Protestant in his views Fisher strongly supported this and acted as chairman of the joint committee in which the Anglican and Free Church "Religion and Life" movement cooperated with the Roman Catholic "Sword of the Spirit" led by Cardinal Hinsley, in the cause of "moral regeneration and social reform".

Fisher sought to pursue the principle of apostolic authority to bring all parishes in the diocese back into conformity, but the matter was not resolved when he ceased to be Bishop of London in 1945.

[25] Nonetheless, after Churchill lost the 1945 general election, the Church was left, in Webster's words, with "a reforming Labour government" but "a conservative, headmasterly archbishop who, though warm-hearted, was determined to maintain the protestant establishment".

[5] According to The Times, Garbett and Fisher cooperated in the government of the Church in an unusually close manner made possible by strong mutual regard.

"Garbett had a wider knowledge of social matters and was more at home than Fisher in the disputed territory which lies between religion and politics.

The Times summed up: Fisher also met resistance from liberals in the church, who regarded his canon law reforms as unduly bureaucratic and calculated to institute a regime of "prosecutions and petty persecutions".

[29] Fisher officiated at the marriage of Princess Elizabeth in Westminster Abbey in 1947, and after her accession to the throne he led the coronation service in 1953, and crowned her as queen.

[5] Shortly afterwards he was drawn into a controversy when the Queen's younger sister, Princess Margaret, was romantically linked with Peter Townsend, a divorced man.

The princess decided not to marry Townsend, and although she stated that her decision had been made "entirely alone", mindful of the Church's teaching on the indissolubility of marriage, it was rumoured that Fisher had influenced her in taking a course widely regretted among the British public.

[30] One of Fisher's aims during his 16 years as archbishop was to make the position of the Church about the marriage of divorced people widely understood and accepted.

He staunchly upheld the rules that would have prevented Princess Margaret and Townsend from marrying in church, but in the words of The Guardian, he "combin[ed] that undoubted rigour with a profound compassion for all those whose lives had been ... wrecked by a disastrous marriage.

The Guardian reported that Fisher was received in the Vatican "not as a bishop on pilgrimage but as the Father in God of the entire Anglican Communion"; the visit marked the end of centuries of hostility between Canterbury and Rome.

[26] Parallel with his quest for inter-church Christian unity was Fisher's concern to strengthen the community between the various international Churches within the Anglican Communion.

Fisher began in 1946 with a visit to Canada and the United States, during which he established or strengthened links between the English and the North American episcopates.

[35] He also welcomed the decision of the Lambeth Conference in favour of family planning: "It is utterly wrong to urge that unless children are specifically desired, sexual intercourse is of the nature of sin".

Ramsey concluded his eulogy, "Today Christians of every tradition, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Protestant, salute the memory of a leader and a friend".