Cum grano salis on 14 Sep 2007  •  Link

One who deals in fish. from the OED:
1464 the ferst day off Marche at the Fyshemongerys howse.

["monger" nice old name, no longer in fashion, people do not like the bib of office. cgs]

[Cognate with or formed similarly to Old Saxon mongari, Old High German mangari, mengari, Old Icelandic mangari, prob. directly <

classical Latin mang{omac} dealer, trader (see MANGO n.2), with substitution of the Germanic base of -ER1 for the Latin agent-noun

suffix; cf. also MONG v. With sense 2 cf. Old Saxon flesmongere, Middle High German vleischmanger, Old Icelandic kjöt-mangari butcher.

Also app. commonly attested in surnames from the late 13th cent., as Thom' Mangar (1279), and in place names from the early 13th cent., as Mangertone (1207; now Mangerton, Dorset), Mangersford (1442; Devon).

Compounds are also commonly attested in surnames from the late 12th or early 13th cent., as Haimanger (see quot. c1191-1210), Heymonger (see quot. 1297), Adam le Henmongere (1263), Le Hennemongere (1312), and in place names, as Haymongeregate (1240; street name in York).]

1. a. A merchant, trader, dealer, or trafficker (freq. of a specified commodity); (from the 16th cent.) a person engaged in a petty or disreputable trade or traffic.
Sometimes short for an established compound such as cheesemonger (see sense 2), where the context makes this clear.

2. As the final element in compounds designating a dealer, trader, or trafficker in a particular commodity. (Now the principal use.)

Originally literally a trader, as cheese-, coster-, fish-, flesh-, ironmonger, etc.; but in formations dating from the 16th cent. also in extended use (freq. derogatory), as ceremony-, fashion-, mass-, merit-, news-, pardon-, scandal-monger, etc.
The more important compounds of both kinds are treated as main entries or under their first element; the following are examples of occasional or nonce-formations.

Barry Reich on 21 Sep 2007  •  Link

Fishmonger's Guild website has nice discussion of the Tudor hall burned in the Great Fire. http://www.fishhall.co.uk/fish.htm

San Diego Sarah on 11 May 2022  •  Link

At the current Fishmongers’ Hall -- some glorious photos, including of timber from the famous London Bridge of Pepys' day:

This palatial building of Portland stone tucked under the west side of the foot of London Bridge is Fishmongers’ Hall.
The Fishmongers’ Company were already long-established on this site when they received their first Royal Charter in 1272 from Edward I, the fish-loving king, and their earliest hall on this site was recorded in 1301.

A monopoly on fish trading brought great wealth to the Company, and in the 14th century three fishmongers were successive Lord Mayors of London, John Lovekyn, Sir William Walworth and William Askham.

Subsequently, they secured Fishmongers’ Wharf in 1444 and retained its sole usage for unloading their catch until 1666, prior to the development of Billingsgate Market which traded on the east side of London Bridge until 1982.

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022…

San Diego Sarah on 12 Jul 2022  •  Link

Barry's link is dead ... I think this is the new one:
https://fishmongers.org.uk/

"The original Fishmongers’ Hall was the first of 54 Livery Halls lost to the flames during the Great Fire of London in 1666. Following the devastation, the Company auctioned off its silver collection to fund the rebuilding and subsequent expansion of Fishmongers’ Hall, which was completed in 1671."