History of New Brunswick

Signature of Peter Fisher and Lewis Peter Fisher

The advantages of education were not great in the elder Peter Fisher's day, but he had a pretty competent instructor in an English school master, Bealing Stephens Williams, who was born in Cornwall in 1754, and came to Nova-Scotia, a clerk in the navy in 1779. He settled in Cumberland, N.S., where he taught school and was married, removing to Fredericton in 1790, where he again taught school for nearly forty years. He was an accomplished penman and an expert in arithmetic and the elementary mathematics. There can be no doubt, I think, that Fisher was indebted to this gentleman for an education that was very fair indeed, in the then circumstances of the country. Fisher unquestionably possessed a good deal of natural ability, and was something of a philosopher, as will appear when we come to consider his writings. He carried on quite an extensive business in lumbering at one time. He was noted as a tireless pedestrian and there were few, even among his juniors, who could keep pace with him in a walk of fifty miles, which he thought nothing of. He married on August 15, 1807, Susanna Stephens Williams, the Rev. George Pidgeon, rector of Fredericton, officiating at the wedding. Their family was a large one, seven sons and four daughters.2 The late Judge Charles Fisher, who was born September 16, 1808, was the oldest. Another son, Henry Fisher, was Chief Superintendent of Education of New-Brunswick. Lewis Peter Fisher, a younger son, was for years Woodstock's most prominent citizen and a very eminent lawyer. Another son, William Fisher, was for some years Indian Commissioner. One of the daughters was the wife of Hon. Charles Connell, Postmaster General, at one time in the local government, and a member of the first Dominion Parliament for the County of Carleton. At least three of the sons of Peter Fisher were actively interested in education. Of these Charles Fisher received the degree of B.A. at King's College, now the University of New Brunswick, in 1830. His was the first class to graduate after the incorporation of the college by Royal Charter, under the name of King's College with the style and privileges of a University. He read law with Judge Street, then Advocate General, was admitted attorney in 1831 and barrister in 1833. He spent a year at one of the Inns of Court in England. His Alma Mater conferred on him the degree of D.C.L. in 1866. Judge Fisher during his public life was a warm friend of the College at Fredericton. At the session of the provincial legislature, in 1859, he moved the bill under which the old King's College was transformed into the University of New-Brunswick. He was later a member of the Senate of the University.

Henry Fisher has already been mentioned as one of the early Chief Superintendents of Education. His portrait may be seen in the office of Dr. W. S. Carter, Chief Superintendent of Education, in Fredericton.

Lewis Peter Fisher, of Woodstock, was for years an active Trustee of the Carleton County Grammar School, and a strenuous advocate of Free School Education. He had no children. By his will he left his large fortune to establish a number of institutions of an educational and philanthropic character in the town of Woodstock, the affairs of which he had long ably administered as mayor. These institutions include:

This is the largest individual benefaction to any community in New-Brunswick, if not in the Maritime Provinces. The memorial buildings are all situated within the limits of the town of Woodstock, and, with the exception of the hospital, are handsome substantial brick buildings. In addition to the gift of the buildings and their equipment, the estate contributes from time to time to their maintenance, under the capable administration of the trustees, A. B. Connell, K. C., and Col. F. H. J. Dibblee. It will thus be seen that although the late Mayor of Woodstock left no child to perpetuate his name, his memory will be kept green for future generations as a philanthropist and a man of high ideals.

Space will not admit of any extended reference to the descendants of our first provincial historian. A short sketch of the life of the Hon. Charles Fisher will be found in Lawrence's "Judges of New-Brunswick and their Times," pages 528-532. As a man who in his day rendered essential service to his native province, Charles Fisher deserves a more extensive biography than has hitherto been attempted by any writer.

1

It is of interest to know that this legend was told by the Indians to the English settlers shortly after their arrival. The name of the Indian heroine is given as Malobianah, or Malabeam.

2

I am pretty certain that Susanna Stephens Williams was a daughter of Bealing Stephens Williams, the school master. – W. O. R.