Author: Fisher, Joshua Bridges
Biography:
FISHER, Joshua Bridges (1774-c.1824: ancestry.com)
An actor and writer born and bred in London, Fisher had a career full of highs and lows but the ending is obscure. He was the son of Ann (Eastburn) and Joshua Fisher, baptised at St. Dionis Backchurch in the City of London on 22 July 1772. He married Ann Rayner at St. Leonard's Shoreditch in 1789, Ann Breach at St. Botolphe without Aldersgate in 1793, and Isabella Gibbs at St. George's Hanover Square in 1814--a sequence of parishes that suggests improving fortunes. From one of the two earlier marriages he had at least one daughter who was part of the Drury Lane company along with her parents in 1805-6. His final volume alludes to "children" in the plural to justify his publication by subscription. Fisher himself is first recorded on the stage in 1793. From 1794 to 1819 he played many secondary roles at Drury Lane. He published a novel, Hermitage, under the patronage of the Duchess of Rutland in 1796; a few short theatrical pieces; and the various poems included in this bibliography. Poetical Rhapsodies, dated from an address in Chelsea and dedicated to the Duke of Devonshire, with a subscription list that includes three other royals, was probably the pinnacle of his success. In 1819 he reprinted it under a different title. In 1823 he was arrested for debt and on 9 Jan. 1824 discharged from the Fleet Prison as an insolvent debtor. He is probably the man of this name buried at North End, Fulham, on 10 Aug. 1828, although the birth date on that record is 1779. (ancestry.com 26 Aug. 2021; findmypast.com 26 Aug. 2021; Highfill 5: 284-5; contributions by AA)
Other Names:
- J. B. Fisher