English historian (1705?1766)
Thomas Birch
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Born
| (
1705-11-23
)
23 November 1705
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Died
| 9 January 1766
(1766-01-09)
(aged 60)
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Nationality
| British
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Occupation(s)
| Historian and Keeper of books at British Museum.
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Known for
| Fellow of the
Royal Society
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Thomas Birch
(23 November 1705 – 9 January 1766) was an English
historian
.
Life
[
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]
He was the son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, and was born at
Clerkenwell
.
He preferred study to business but, as his parents were
Quakers
, he did not go to the university. Notwithstanding this circumstance, he was ordained
deacon
in the
Church of England
in 1730 and priest in 1731. As a strong supporter of the
Whigs
, he gained the favour of
Philip Yorke
, afterwards
Lord Chancellor
and first Earl of Hardwicke, and his subsequent preferments were largely due to this friendship. He held successively a number of benefices in different counties, and finally in London.
He was noted as a keen fisherman during the course of his lifetime, and devised an unusual method of disguising his intentions. Dressed as a tree, he stood by the side of a stream in an outfit designed to make his arms seem like branches and the rod and line a spray of blossom. Any movement, he argued, would be taken by a fish to be the consequences of a mild breeze.
[
citation needed
]
In 1735 he became a member of the
Society of Antiquaries
, and was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society
, of which he was secretary from 1752 to 1765. In 1728 he had married Hannah Cox, who died in the following year. Birch was killed on 9 January 1766 by a fall from his
horse
, and was buried in the church of St
Margaret Pattens
,
London
, of which he was then rector.
He died, according to his will, "in a full confidence in the Mercy and Goodness of almighty God and with a firm persuasion of a blessed Immortality discoverable by the Light of Nature and confirmed for us Christians by that of Revelation", leaving his books and manuscripts to the
British Museum
, and a sum of about £500 to increase the salaries of the three assistant librarians.
Writings
[
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]
Birch was prolific, even if
Horace Walpole
questioned his "parts, taste and judgment." He corresponded with prominent men of his time.
[2]
Samuel Johnson
wrote: "Tom Birch is as brisk as a bee in conversation; but no sooner does he take a pen in his hand, than it becomes a
torpedo
to him, and benumbs all his faculties". Boswell observed "That the literature of this country is much indebted to Birch’s activity and diligence must certainly be acknowledged. We have seen that Johnson honoured him with a Greek Epigram; and his correspondence with him, during many years, proves that he had no mean opinion of him."
Birch often collaborated with the greatly successful London bookseller,
Andrew Millar
, who helped publish some of Birch's most highly profitable publications. These included
The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle,
co-written by Reverend
Henry Miles
(in 5 volumes folio, 1744), and
A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton
(in 2 volumes folio, 1738, followed in 2 volumes quarto, 1753).
Birch wrote most of the English lives in the
General Dictionary, Historical and Critical
, 10 vols. (London, 1734?1741), assisted in the composition of the
Athenian Letters
(London, 1741?43), edited the
State Papers of John Thurloe
(London, 1742) and the
State Papers of W. Murdin
(London, 1759).
He also wrote:
- Inquiry
into the share which
King Charles I
had in the transactions of the
Earl of Glamorgan
for bringing over a body of Irish rebels (published by Millar in London, 1756);
[3]
- Historical view of Negotiations between the Courts of England, France and Brussels 1592-1617
(London, 1749);
- Life of Archbishop
Tillotson
(London, 1753);
- History of the Royal Society of London
(London, 1756?1757);
- Life of Henry, Prince of Wales
(London, 1760), and other works.
- The heads of illustrious persons of Great Britain, in 108 copper plates, engraved by
Mr. Houbraken
and
Mr. Vertue
, with their lives and characters
, by Thomas Birch, D.D. Secretary of the Royal Society, London, 1761
Among the papers left at his death were some which were published in 1848 as the
Court and Times of James I
and the
Court and Times of Charles I
.
Copies of Franklin letters
[
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]
Recently discovered by American researcher Alan Houston at the
British Library
is a file entitled
Copies of
[Benjamin Franklin's]
Letters relating to the March of
General Braddock
. Birch was said to have obsessively copied any documents of historical importance he could get his hands on. He was a friend of
Franklin
, and they were both members of the
Royal Society
. In his autobiography, Franklin refers to his "Quire Book", which has never been found, but which contained letters and papers concerning his efforts to support the British Government at that pre-revolutionary time. They speak of his 1755 efforts to help
British Redcoats
led by Braddock in their march to defeat the French at
Fort Duquesne
(in today's Pittsburgh). Braddock desperately needed transportation for his troops, and Franklin rounded up horses and wagons for him using his persuasive powers as Pennsylvania's leading politician. Incidentally, Braddock and most of his men (who included
George Washington
) were defeated by the French and their Indian allies.
[4]
Works
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- Courtney, William Prideaux (1886).
"Birch, Thomas (1705-1766)"
. In
Stephen, Leslie
(ed.).
Dictionary of National Biography
. Vol. 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- A. Kippis
,
Biographia Britannica
(London, 1778?1793)
-
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Birch, Thomas
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 958.
- Horace Walpole,
Letters
(London, 1891).
- Hume, David
,
Letter to Andrew Millar,
April 12, 1755, accessed through "www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk."
University of Edinburgh
.
[1]
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Founding of the
United States
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Legacy
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