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John Fryer FRS (circa 1650 – 31 March 1733) was an English doctor and
* Obituary, ''Gentleman's Magazine'', April 1733, p. 214.
Encyclopædia Iranica: John Fryer
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fryer, John 1733 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Year of birth uncertain
John Fryer FRS (circa 1650 – 31 March 1733) was an English doctor and Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
, now best remembered for his descriptions of travel in Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and East India
East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha
and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...
.
Life
Fryer was the oldest son of William Fryer of London. On 13 July 1664, he matriculated atTrinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
, from which he graduated as a Bachelor of Medicine in 1671, then becoming a Fellow-Commoner at Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
on 23 July the same year. In 1672 he was appointed as a surgeon for the British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
, to be paid "50s. per month to commence at his arriveall", and on 9 December 1672 sailed from Gravesend
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Ro ...
on the Unity. While en route, at Johanna (Nzwani) in the Comoro Islands
The Comoro Islands or Comoros ( Shikomori ''Komori''; ar, جزر القمر , ''Juzur al-qamar''; french: Les Comores) form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the southeastern coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and northw ...
, he made important observations concerning the antiscorbutic qualities of oranges and limes. He arrived on 26 June 1673 at Masulipatnam (now Machilipatnam
Machilipatnam (), also known as Masulipatnam and Bandar, is a city in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is a municipal corporation and the administrative headquarters of Krishna district. It is also the Tehsil, mandal he ...
), the earliest English settlement on the Coromandel coast, and sailing onwards from there to Madras
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, ultimately arrived at Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
one year after leaving England.
Fryer remained in the east for eight years, returning to England in August 1682, where he married and had at least one daughter, Anna Maria Sanderson. In 1697 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1698 his "Abstract with Some Reflections on a New Account of East-India and Persia" was published in the Society's transactions, the same year as his magnum opus, ''A new account of East-India and Persia''. Fryer died on 31 March 1733 at his Bread Street home in All Hallows parish, London.
Fryer's books provide contemporary accounts of Mughal India, southern India, and Persia, where he visited Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
and the southern parts of the country, with accurate observations in geology, meteorology, and natural history.
References
* ''A new account of East-India and Persia, in eight letters being nine years travels begun 1672 and finished 1681 : containing observations made of the moral, natural and artificial estate of those countries ...'', John Fryer, Printed by R.R. for Ri. Chiswell ..., 1698. (Downloa* Obituary, ''Gentleman's Magazine'', April 1733, p. 214.
Encyclopædia Iranica: John Fryer
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fryer, John 1733 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Year of birth uncertain