author
Peter Fisher
1782–1848
A merchant-turned-historian in early New Brunswick, he is remembered as the province’s first historian. His writing captured the settlement, landscape, and everyday life of a young colony from the perspective of someone who had grown up there.
1 Audiobook
History of New Brunswick
by Peter Fisher
About the author
Born on June 9, 1782, on Staten Island, Peter Fisher moved to New Brunswick as an infant when his Loyalist family resettled there after the American Revolution. He grew up in Fredericton and later worked as a merchant, while also developing a lasting interest in the history of the province.
Fisher is best known for writing some of the earliest historical accounts of New Brunswick. His Sketches of New Brunswick, first published in 1825 and later reissued as History of New Brunswick, helped preserve details about the province’s early settlement, geography, trade, institutions, and daily life. Because of this work, he is often described as New Brunswick’s first historian.
He died in Fredericton on August 15, 1848. Though not widely known outside Canadian historical circles, his books remain valuable for readers interested in Loyalist history and the beginnings of historical writing in New Brunswick.