Fisher, Benjamin, 1753-1814 : Benjamin Fisher (1753-1814) was one of nine sons, born in England, to John Fisher and Elizabeth Laurens. His eldest brother was also John Fisher, who was made Royal Chaplain by King George III and later was named Bishop of Salisbury. He was a long-time mentor to the English artist John Constable who maintained a relationship with the extended family for over twenty-five years. Benjamin Fisher entered the army in 1771 as a Royal Engineer. It is presumed that he studied at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich where the acclaimed British watercolourist Paul Sandby was Chief Drawing Master from 1768-1799. Benjamin's youngest brother George Bulteel Fisher (1764-1834) also entered the military as a Second Lieutenant to the Royal Artillery in 1782. George Bulteel Fisher went on to produce a set of aquatint views of North America which were among some of the earliest views to be published.
During his military career of over forty years, Benjamin Fisher served several postings abroad, the first being to the West Indies from 1773-1781. By 1785 when he was ordered to Canada, he had achieved the rank of Captain. He was charged with the examination of British fortifications, sending home detailed reports on their condition. As noted in Joseph Hadfield's "An Englishman in America: Being the Diary of Joseph Hadfield" (1933), Fisher's wife accompanied him to Canada as they were encountered on a boat trip to Niagara by Hadfield and his party soon after the Fishers' arrival. Similar to other British military officers serving in Canada such as George Heriot, James Peachey, Hervey Smyth and Richard Short, his artistic skills were used to record not only military sites but landscape views as well. During his stay in Canada, he became acquainted with Elizabeth Simcoe, wife of John Graves Simcoe, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, who commented in her diaries on the accomplishment of his watercolours of the West Indies. It is known that he displayed with the Royal Academy in London when he showed a "View in the Island of Dominica" in its 1780 watercolour exhibit.
Fisher's service in Canada ended in 1796 by which time he had attained the rank of Major. He went on to an extended posting in Ireland from 1800-1812. When he died in Portsmouth in November 1814, as Major-General, he had served only thirteen years of his long career at home.
