George Fisher

• formal_name:
• first_date: 1764
• last_date: 1765
• function: Bookbinder
• locales: Williamsburg
• precis: Bookbinder in the Williamsburg office of Joseph Royle (368) in 1764-65.
• notes: Bookbinder
  Williamsburg
  Bookbinder in the Williamsburg office of Joseph Royle (368) in 1764-65.
  Fisher is a fleeting presence in the American print-trade record. He appears initially in the business records of the Williamsburg Printing Office when conducted by Joseph Royle. He was also a creditor to Royle's estate following his master's death, being owed his salary.
  That unpaid balance was likely never paid as it had resulted from Fisher's flight from Royle's employ, as reported in a notice he posted in the Maryland Gazette in May 1765:
  "Ran away from the Printing Office, on Saturday Night [20 April 1765], a Servant Man George Fisher, by Trade a Book Binder, between 25 and 26 Years of Age, about 5 feet 5 Inches high, very thick, stoops much, and has a down Look; he is a little Pock-pitted, has a Scar on one of his temples, is much addicted to Licquor, very talkative when drunk, and remarkably stupid."
  County records indicate that Fisher was a transported convict who Royle had engaged. A 1950s history of the binding trade suggests that Fisher was an experienced tradesman when transported, as the reward that Royle offered (₤5-10) was unusually generous. Fisher was apprehended as a result of that offer and returned to the Williamsburg Gaol, but escaped in July 1765, six months before Royle's death, never to be seen or heard of again.
  
  
  No Personal Data yet discovered.
  
  Born:
  ca.
  1740
  Great Britain?
  
  
  No other information yet discovered.
  
  Sources: MESDA Index no. 12989; Virginia Gazette Daybooks (Royle); York County Project files, Research Dept., CWF; Bookbinder in Eighteenth Century Williamsburg.
  
• Related Bios:
  • Joseph Royle

This version of the Index of Virginia Printing was a gift from the estate of the site's creator, David Rawson. The content contained herein will not be updated, as it is part of the Library of Virginia's personal papers collection. For more information, please see David Rawson Index of Virginia Printing website. Accession 53067. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.