Fryer, John, 1839-1928

Biography

John Fryer was born in England in 1839. In 1860 he was graduated from St. James' School at Bristol. The following year he received his teachers certificate from Highbury College in London and was appointed principal of St. Paul's College at Hong Kong. From 1863 to 1865 he was professor of English at Tung-Wen College in Peking. He then became head of the new Anglo -Chinese School at Shanghai. During the period he also edited the first Chinese newspaper published in Shanghai.

In 1868 Fryer entered the service of the Chinese government as translator of scientific books into Chinese. In addition to his work he took an active interest in the many educational innovations that were carried on in China during this period. In 1884 he founded the Chinese Scientific Book Depot. This company, which he owned until 1911, printed and sold books on scientific subjects, and later, on general subjects also.

He left China in 1896 to accept the position of first Agassiz Professor of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of California at Berkeley but visited China yearly to oversee his business interests and in 1911 he founded the Institute for the Chinese Blind at Shanghai. Under his direction the Department of Oriental Languages was expanded and his active interest in the department and in Chinese student affairs continued after his retirement in 1914. He also gave illustrated lectures on China and the Chinese and was a member of the Philological Society, Hung Tao Society, and president of the Oriental Institute of California. Professor Fryer died in 1928.

From the guide to the John Fryer Papers, [ca. 1861-1921], (The Bancroft Library.)