55 George William Fisk (1882-1972) So, George William Fisk was the son of a his family’s strong Baptist tradition (two of Geor- much travelled Baptist minister, the Reve- ge’s uncles were also Baptist ministers, and two rend Ebenezer Edward Fisk, and Annie of his aunts married Baptist ministers). Dinah Pratt from Birmingham. George William Fisk would probably have also Regarding his name, he was officially called been very familiar with St Albans, which was still ‘George’, but mum says that for some rea- something of a Fisk family base, and was where son he didn’t like the name much, and close his uncle James was now running the success- friends called him ‘Will’, while inofficial pa- ful drapery business that had been inherited pers he generally liked to call himself GW from his grandfather. Fisk. But although he was born in Liverpool, George He was the third and final child in the family, William Fisk only spent the first few years of his and the only son, being several years youn- life there. ger than his two older sisters, who were both In 1886, they were recorded in Kelly’s Directory born when the Reverend Edward Fisk was as having moved back south to live in Wal- preaching in Bexley Heath in Kent (Ethel in thamstow in London, but by 1891, they were back north in York, and were living at number 52, 1875 and Elsie in 1876). The Reverend was Holgate Road. This is currently the address of earning £10 a month – a healthy enough the Holgate Antiques shop. wage in those times. His father was 47 by this time, and probably pas- After less than three years in Bexley Heath, tor at the nearby York Baptist Church, while his and probably in late 1876, the family moved wife Annie was 46. north to live at 3 Ivy Leigh, West Derby, Lan- By the time of the 1891 census, Ethel and Elsie cashire (now part of Liverpool) and the Re- were 16 and 15, and George William Fisk was verend was the pastor at the Brook Chapel nine. They also had a servant living with them, just up the road from the family home. 21 year old Sarah Holmes from Durham. It was while they were living here that, on Ja- In the 1901 census, the family was living in Shi- nuary 9, 1882, George William Fisk was pley, and GW Fisk was a 19 year old medical born. So, you could say that he was born student. into a reasonably well-to-do family and was Much later in life, George would become a very given a religious upbringing in keeping with active member of the Society for Psychical Re- search, and a 1973 obituary written by one of his closest associates, Donald West, in the So- ciety’s Journal, and an article by Rosalind Heywood on his work with ESP in the same issue, are the sources of much information on his life. It must have been evident from very early on that George was an extraordinarily bright young man. As West writes “he began as a medical student, but gave that up for financial reasons, and took a degree in divinity instead.” He may have switched to theology under pressure from his deeply religious parents, who were more willing to support him that way. He studied at London University (B.D, 1906) and Victoria University (B.A, 1907). Victoria was a federal university that included Owens College (Manchester), University College Liverpool and Yorkshire College (Leeds, now Leeds Uni- versity). It was probably in Leeds that George was studying, because, in the same year as his gra- duation, he married Florence Watson. They are on record as marrying in North Bierley, Ivy Leigh, West Derby Yorkshire in 1907. Florence Watson’s story is told in full in the section on the Watson ancestry, but to summa- rise, she was born in Bradford in 1874, and was 33 when she married 25 year old George. It was fairly common knowledge among the later generations that father or grandfather George was eight years younger than his wife. Florence was originally born in Manningham, Bradford but later moved to ne- arby Shipley (the same town where George’s parents lived from at least 1901 to 1911, and very close to where the Watsons lived). Florence worked in the cotton mills in Shipley, a very difficult life indeed. Just how they met is odd, as George W Fisk and Florence must have moved in very different circles, but Aunty Sue has vague memories that Florence was working as a servant in the Fisk household. This is very possible, they were all living in Shipley at the time. There is no doubt that their marriage was not a popular one with the family. According to Aunty Sue, “Granny was about 8 years older than Grandpa and was a servant in (I think) their household -that would make sense as Granny came from Shipley- and their romance caused a rift in the family as Granny was not considered a suitable match I never remember Mummy talking of her grandparents - or Grandpa talking about his parents - so I guess they never healed the rift -very sad.” So George Fisk, the son of a Baptist minister and budding academic had ma- rried a local lady from a poor background, and who was several years older than he was. His mother and father, Annie Dinah and the Reverend Edward Fisk, seemed to disapprove of the whole thing. It was a shame, because much as they may not have appreciated his ‘lowly’ 11, East Avenue, Walthamstow, choice of wife, George Fisk would be a very devoted husband indeed and where the Fisk family lived in 1886. also go on to be perhaps the most fascinating person in our whole family tree. Aunty Sue believes that it was due to the family’s lack of respect for his choice of wife that George made a dramatic decision after graduating and marrying. He decided to distance himself from his family. And he did so in style. He and his wife went to live in China! 56 They went to Shantung, which according to Wikipedia, “During the ninete- at Shantung Christian University, and remained in the job until 1915, enth century, China became increasingly exposed to Western influence, and which was also the year that the institution adopted its modern name of Shantung, a coastal province, was especially affected. Qingdao was leased Cheeloo University. to Germany in 1897 and Weihai to Britain in 1898.” Weihai is indeed the lo- Says Aunty Sue “I was sure Grandpa had told me he went to China as cation of Cheeloo, where George Fisk worked. a missionary to placate the family - although he did not really have any GW Fisk was just 25 at the time, and in 1908 he became a physics lecturer strong religious convictions- but he was open to being converted! I should think his family had destroyed his faith.” Yale University’s website describes the origin of the University. “Ameri- can Presbyterian, English Baptist, Anglican, and Canadian Presbyterian mission agencies worked together to form what came to be known as Shantung Christian University. The University's earliest roots went back to Tengchow College, which was established by American Presbyte- rians in 1882 with Calvin Mateer as its leader. In 1902 the Presbyterians and English Baptists agreed to combine their efforts in higher education in Shantung, forming an Arts College at Weihsien, a Theological Co- llege at Tsingchowfu, and a Medical College, which was eventually es- tablished in Tsinan. By 1909 it had been determined that the University should be consolidated in one location, and Tsinan was chosen.” George worked at the Theological College, in Qingzhou, which formed part of the university, and was founded in 1894 by British Baptists. Given the Fisk family’s Baptist links, this may explain how George Fisk ended up working so far away. The university itself was dissolved in 1952 and the different faculties were made part of other universities. The name Qingzhou is just one of the many different transcriptions of the Chinese name, which makes things very complicated, as its is also somtimes ca- lled any of Chingzhou, Ch’ing-chou-fu, Tsing-chau-fu, Tsingchowfu, This photo shows the original entrance gate, as it still stands Qingchow, Ch’ing-chou, Tsingchow, I-tu-hsien, I-tu and Yitu - and seve- today, to what would have been the main campus of ral of these names appear on different documents related to GW Fisk Cheeloo University in George Fisk’s time. and his wife. He was officially there working for the China Inland Mission, which Wikipedia explains “was founded on principles of faith and prayer. From the beginning it recruited missionaries from the working class as well as single women, which was a new practice for a large agency. Even today, no appeals for funds are made, instead a reliance upon God is practiced to move people through prayer alone. The goal of the mission that began dedicated to China has grown to include bringing the Gospel to the millions of inhabitants of East Asia who have never heard or had access to the message of Jesus Christ.” But although in a 1915 travel document, George Fisk describes his profession as being a ‘missio- nary’, nobody seems to remember him as being particularly religious at all, and he was really more of a teacher. It was while he was there, in 1910, that Florence gave birth to what would be their only child – Muriel Eleanor Fisk, our grandmother.