Birch, Thomas

BIRCH, THOMAS: Church of England clergyman and author; b. in London Nov. 23, 1705; d. there Jan. 9, 1766. He was ordained priest in 1731, although of Quaker parentage and without a university education; was an ardent Whig and, having influential patrons, received many good preferments, holding at the time of his death the rectories of St. Margaret Pattens, London, and Depden, Suffolk. He was an indefatigable writer, and his works have been criticized as showing more industry than judgment; they include a number of volumes relating to English history; lives of Robert Boyle (London, 1744), Archbishop Tillotson (1752), and others, as well as most of the English biographies in the General Dictionary (10 vols., 1734–41); editions of Milton's prose (1738), Sir Walter Raleigh's works (1751), and the works and letters of Lord Bacon (1765); History of the Royal Society of London (4 vols., 1756–57); numerous communications in the "Philosophical Transactions" and other periodical publications.

Bibliography: J. Nichols, Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, i, 585–637, ii, 507, iii, 258, v, 40–43, 53, 282–290, London, 1812–15; DNB, v, 68–70.