Greevz Fisher

Greevz Fisher (born John Greeves Fisher; 9 September 1845 – 18 May 1931) was an Anglo-Irish businessman, anarchist, activist, philologist, and co-founder of the Legitimation League.

Life John Greeves Fisher was born in Youghal, Ireland, in 1845. The goal of the Legitimation League was "to create machinery for acknowledging offspring born out of wedlock, and to secure for them equal rights with legitimate children." In 1893, Fisher published a pamphlet titled Illegitimate Children: An Inquiry into their Personal Rights and a Plea for the Abolition of Illegitimacy. In 1892, Fisher offered himself as a 'Liberty candidate' for East Bradford.

Fisher was the inventor of a simplified form of spelling, from which the alternative spelling of his own name (Greevz, and sometimes Fysher) was derived.

In addition to contributing regularly to publications such as Liberty, Fisher edited a paper called The Free Thought Record. Knowledgeable on natural history, Fisher was also President of The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union in 1930.

Greevz Fisher died on 18 May 1931, survived by Marie and their five children. On his death, the Leeds Mercury mourned the loss of one of the city's "best known and most distinctive personalities", describing how Fisher still cycled to and from his business into his 80s.