Fisher One-Name Study

Fisher
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Fisher One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Historical occurrences
Frequency of the name
Data
DNA project
Links
Contact Details

About the Fisher One-Name Study

The objective of this study is to reconstruct the genealogies of every Fisher family with a genetic origin in the British Isles, including their descendants who emigrated to America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. This will be achieved through traditional documentary research and DNA testing combined with geographical distribution analysis. The process of family reconstruction is not anticipated to commence until 2007/8 when it is expected that all the major data sources have been transcribed and digitised.

Variants

Fisher is unlikely to be the source of any variant surnames. Indeed although medieval documents reveal numerous clerical variations there is no evidence that any became hereditary. By the end of the 17th century the familiar modern spelling was universally established. The continental surname Fischer self-evidently shares a common linguistic root but is distinct and unrelated in all other respects.

Origin of the surname

The surname has multiple and genetically distinct origins throughout England although the pattern is unevenly distributed with scarcity in counties such as Herefordshire, Shropshire and Dorset and large populations in Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Somerset.

Part of the work of the study is to analyse county by county the reasons for these variations. One aspect of which includes mapping the distribution of Domesday Book references to 'fisheries' and 'eel renders' with the population distribution of the surname Fisher. For the few counties that this exercise has been completed a remarkable correlation appears suggesting that in the majority of cases the first holder of the surname of a particular family worked on a manorial fishpond or river weir and not someone who was a sea-fisherman.

Its origins in Scotland, Wales and Ireland are equally interesting and likely to be the result of immigrant settlement from very early times although the exact circumstances will vary with each country and each family.

Historical occurrences

There are numerous Fishers who feature prominently throughout history, including an Archbishop of Canterbury who crowned the present Queen, a Prime Minister of Australia whose family originated in Scotland, a First Sea Lord of the Admiralty whose descendants hold the title Baron Fisher of Kilverstone. The earliest and probably best known is St. John Fisher, bishop of Rochester, who was executed for high treason in 1535. Born in Beverley, Yorkshire he naturally left no direct descendants but there are reputedly collateral families still in the East Riding.

Frequency of the name

It is estimated there are more than 400,000 Fishers worldwide with over 65% in the United States alone. Far more than in the British Isles which has an estimated 20% of the global total. The disparity between the USA and the UK is clearly the result of massive immigration over a 200-year period. This is not the complete answer as an analysis of the 1850 Federal census reveals that the number of immigrant 'Fishers' born in Germanic States exceeded those born in the UK by almost 3 to 1. If this pattern is typical the exponential growth of the surname in the USA could be ascribed to the integration of continental immigrants rather than the increased fecundity of British stock on America soil!

The UK 2001 Electoral Register records nearly 50,000 Fishers. Not surprisingly most are found in the heavily populated areas of England - London, Yorkshire and Lancashire - but these do not correspond to the areas where the population density of the surname is greatest: principally the counties of Cumberland, Nottinghamshire and Berkshire.

Data

There are somewhere in the order of 500,000 records currently held in several databases. The majority are 19th century UK census and civil registration records. This collection is expected to be complete within the next 3 years and will form the foundation of the family reconstruction project, which will be implemented at that time. Additionally there are extensive parish register transcriptions, wills, military, criminal, land, tax, visitation, directory and biographical records referring to the UK.

Although various census and civil registration records continue to be collected for America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand work will concentrate on these countries when the UK databases are finished.

DNA project

The Fisher DNA Project currently has over 55 test results defining several families. Including a match between the English and American branches of a previously unconnected family.

The project is open to any male Fisher with ancestral origins in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. We are particularly interested in Fisher families with a proven ancestry dating back to at least 1650 subject to certain conditions there is funding available to undertake the test.

Links

The Fisher Surname Study

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mr John P Fisher
E-mail:

This page last updated 25 February 2008.