Walter Fletcher

Who was Walter Fletcher?

Sir Walter Fletcher was a British businessman and Conservative Party politician.

Born Walter Fleischl von Marxon, he was the second son of Paul Fleischl von Marxon of Shagbrooke, Reigate, Surrey. His father was an Austrian-born woolbroker, who became a naturalised British citizen in 1887.

Following education at Charterhouse School and the University of Lausanne, he began training as a manager in the rubber industry. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914 he entered the British Army, obtaining a commission in the Army Ordnance Department. He served in East Africa, and by the end of the war in 1918 had reached the rank of major.

In September 1919 he changed his name by deed poll to Walter Fletcher. He returned to Africa where he managed a large number of rubber plantations. He returned to England where he subsequently became chairman and managing director of Hecht, Levis and Kahn, a major rubber and commodities company. He held the position for thirty years. In 1928 he married Esme Boyd.

Politically, Fletcher was a Conservative, and he was selected as the party's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Birkenhead East seat in 1930. However, with the formation of a National Government prior to the 1931 general election he stood aside to allow Henry Graham White, a Liberal member of the government to hold the seat.