Reverand George Fisher - Artic Astronomer

Guest Speaker

Thursday, 30th June 2022 (19:45 - 22:00)

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Revd George Fisher: Arctic Astronomer - a talk by Mike Frost.

Reverend George Fisher (1794-1873), a little-known but talented man from the nineteenth century, is the subject of this discourse.

Despite coming from an affluent family, Fisher's father died young, thus he began working for the Westminster Fire Company at a young age. His mathematical abilities and zeal drew the notice of Royal Society members, and he was accepted as an undergraduate at St Catherine's College, Cambridge. His undergraduate studies were interrupted by a year spent on a naval expedition north of Spitzbergen, attempting to establish a route across the Arctic Ocean, he worked as an astronomer on Captain William Parry's 1821-3 voyage to discover the north-west route out of Hudson's Bay, Canada, after graduation. Fisher's remarkable accomplishments were recognised in a fascinating report of the trip written by Parry (an astronomer in his own right). He became headmaster of the Naval College School at Greenwich after his naval service ended, where he erected an observatory. He moved to my hometown in the Midlands, which is how I learned about him.

Speaker: Mike Frost

Learn more about Mike Frost