Richard Fisher Belward

{{short description|English scholar (1746–1803)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

File:Richard Fisher Belward by John Opie.jpg]]

Richard Fisher Belward {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS}} (5 September 1746 – 16 May 1803) was an English priest and academic. He was born Richard Fisher, adopting the name Belward in 1791.{{cite book|last=Venn|first=John|year=1898|title=Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College|volume=2|pages=82–83|publisher=Cambridge, University press |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalhist02vennuoft/page/82|access-date=13 August 2023}}

Fisher was born in Long Stratton, Suffolk, the son of Richard Fisher, a surgeon.{{acad|id=FSR765R|name=Fisher (post Belward), Richard}} His schoolmaster at both Botesdale School and Thetford Grammar School was John Cole Gallaway.{{acad|id=GLWY755JC|name=Gallaway, John Cole}} He was admitted to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge in January 1765, aged 18, graduating BA (9th wrangler) 1769, MA 1772, DD 1796. He was ordained deacon in 1769 and priest in 1772.

He gained a fellowship at Caius in 1769, served as President of Fellows 1790–1795, Master of the college 1795–1803, and Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1796.[https://www.v-c.admin.cam.ac.uk/role-vice-chancellor/history-vice-chancellorship University of Cambridge VC's Office]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1790.

He died on 16 May 1803 in Roydon,The Bury and Norwich Post: Or, Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, and Cambridge Advertiser (Bury Saint Edmunds, England), Wednesday, May 18, 1803; Issue 1090. British Library Newspapers, Part II: 1800–1900. and was buried in Diss on 24 May 1803.