Early Georgian Portraits Catalogue

Thomas Birch (1705-1766), Historian

Historian; born in Clerkenwell of Quaker parents; rector of Ulting, Essex, 1732, and of five other parishes, 1743-66; FRS and FSA, 1735; DD, 1753; secretary of the Royal Society, 1752-65; among many historical and biographical works, wrote the text for Vertue's and Houbraken's Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain; his books and manuscripts bequeathed to the British Museum.


This extended catalogue entry is from the out-of-print National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Kerslake, Early Georgian Portraits, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1977, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.