Fisher, Peter

DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Ann Gorman Condon, “FISHER, PETER,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fisher_peter_7E.html
DCB profile notes:
- Merchant and historian; b. 9 June 1782 on Staten Island, N.Y.; d. 15 Aug. 1848 in Fredericton.
- Peter Fisher is renowned as “the first historian of New Brunswick.” His two summary accounts of provincial life signalled the beginning of an indigenous literary tradition. The work of the son of a loyalist soldier and farmer, his sketches are particularly notable for the insights they allow into the values and aspirations of a second-generation, rank-and-file loyalist settler.
- He was the third child of Lewis Fisher, a member since 1776 of the New Jersey Volunteers. Lewis Fisher was of Dutch origin, and variations on the spelling of his first name include Ludovic, Ludwig, and Lodewick. Like so many of the Dutch settlers in America, he consistently supported the continuation of British rule in the colonies. He was taken prisoner for a time early in the war and then served in and around New York City. In company with many of his comrades, Fisher and his young family left New York in September 1783 on the Esther and sailed northward to begin a new life of exile in the Saint John River valley.
- Fisher’s two contributions to New Brunswick history will always have a distinctive place as the first comprehensive reports on the state of the province by a permanent resident. They strike the 20th-century reader more as compendiums of factual material than as works of history, but they conformed to contemporary standards, which emphasized the systematic collection of past and present data fused with an assessment of the material accomplishments of human settlement.
Son of Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory –https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=2813
Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61059884/peter-fisher