Collection search - Thomas Birch collection [textual record]

Record information – Brief
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Thomas Birch collection [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Collection

Date:

[ca. 1566, 1632, 1753-1755].

Reference:

R17025-0-4-E, MG21-Add.MSS.-4107-4326B

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

105186

Context of this record:

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Thomas Birch collection
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Record information – Details
Collection includes:

5 lower level description(s)
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Date(s):

[ca. 1566, 1632, 1753-1755].

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

0.5 cm of textual records (23 p.) transcripts.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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The collection includes personal and historical papers collected by Reverend Thomas Birch and is comprised of both original and copied documents. His personal papers include correspondence while his historical collection is comprised mainly of letters and papers relating to affairs of state including a draft petition by Sir Humphrey Gilbert for the monopoly on exploring the Northwest Passage, a copy of a treaty concluded by Sir Isaac Wake laying down rules for the search of merchant vessels by warships and a letter dated 3 June 1754 from Lieutenant William Jacobs containing descriptions of Halifax, Lunenberg and other maritime locations. Transcripts, 23 pages.

Provenance:

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Birch, Thomas, 1705-1766

Biography/Administrative history:

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Birch, Thomas, 1705-1766 : Historian and biographer.

The Reverend Dr. Thomas Birch (1705-1766), was born of Quaker parents in St. George's Court, Clerkenwell, on 23 November 1705. His father, Joseph Birch, was a coffee-mill maker. Thomas Birch seems to have received the rudiments of a good education and, although he never went to university, was elected F.R.S. and F.S.A. in 1735, and had doctorates of divinity conferred upon him in 1753 both by Marischal College, Aberdeen, and by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1728, Birch married Hannah Cox (d. 1729), the daughter of a clergyman of the Church of England, and was baptized into that communion on 15 December 1730. He was ordained deacon and priest in the Church of England on 17 January 1730 and 21 December 1731 respectively. Enjoying the patronage of the Hardwicke family, Birch passed from one ecclesiastical preferment to another and at the time of his death held the livings of St. Margaret Pattens, London, and Depden in Suffolk.

Birch was a diligent collector of historical documents, originals and copies, and a prolific writer on historical subjects. Although a lively speaker, his writing is notable for its dullness, but is still of great value to students. He was secretary to the Royal Society from 1752 to 1765. A fall from his horse while riding on the Hampstead Road is believed to have been caused by an apoplectic fit, and he died on 9 January 1766.

Finding aid:

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(No finding aid)

Additional information:

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General note:

Documents created in: London, England.

Custodial history:

Birch bequeathed his books and manuscripts to the British Museum (now the British Library) together with about oe500 for increasing the stipend of the three assistant librarians. The manuscripts are catalogued in 382 volumes numbered immediately after the original Sloane Collection as Add. MSS. 4101-4478. A number of small excerpts were transcribed from the Birch Collection in 1915 and 1916 by the National Archives of Canada.

Location of originals note:

Originals with the British Library, London, England.
Subject heading:

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Boston (Mass.)

Northwest Passage, 1566

Petitions - Great Britain, 1566 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 1566

War, Maritime (International law), 1632 Sir Issac Wake, 1632

Search, Right of, 1632 Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France), 1632

Search and seizures, 1632 Lieutenant William Jacobs, 1741-1755

Capture at sea, 1632 Success (Ship), 1754-1755

Seizures of vessels and cargoes, 1632 Gilles Robert de Vaugandy, 1753-1754

Halifax (N.S.) - Description, 1632 Reverend Dr. Josiah Tucker, 1755

Halifax (N.S.) - Description, 1754-1755 Bristol (England), 1755

Lunenburg (N.S.) - Description, 1754-1755 Allegheny Mountains, 1755

Annapolis (N.S.) - Description, 1754-1755

St. John (N.B.) - Description, 1754-1755

Treaties - Great Britain, 1632

Treaties - France, 1632

Great Britain - Colonial forces, 1754-1755

Colonies - North America, 1755

New England - Militia, 1754-1755

Fort Beauséjour (Aulac, N.B.)

Fort Beauséjour (Aulac, N.-B.)

Great Britain

Grande-Bretagne
Source:

Private

Former archival reference no.:

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MG21-Add.MSS.-4107-4326B
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