Peter Birch ( – 2 July 1710) was an English clergyman who served as

Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons The Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, also known as the Speaker's Chaplain, is a Church of England priest who officiates at services held at the Palace of Westminster and its associated chapel, St Mary Undercroft. The Chaplain a ...

and

Archdeacon of Westminster The Archdeacon of Westminster is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Chapter of the Royal Peculiar of Westminster Abbey in London. The holder of the post oversees relationships with the twenty-four parishes of which the Dean and Chapter ar ...

. Birch was the son of

Thomas Birch Thomas Birch (23 November 17059 January 1766) was an English historian. Life 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 t ...

of Birch Hall,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and his wife Alice . Raised a

presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

, he was admitted to

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...

in 1667, and also studied in Oxford, though not initially as a member of the university. (Under the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion in t ...

, he could not graduate at Cambridge or matriculate at Oxford without conforming to the Church of England.) Having declared his conformity to the established church, he was admitted to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

by John Fell,

Dean of Christ Church The Dean of Christ Church is the dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and head of the governing body of Christ Church, a constituent college of the University of Oxford. The cathedral is the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of ...

, matriculating on 12 May 1673, aged 21. He graduated

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

March 1674,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

June 1674, B.D. 1684,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

1688, and was made a chaplain of Christ Church by Dr. Fell. For a time he was curate of

St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford St Thomas the Martyr Church is a Church of England parish church of the Anglo-Catholic tradition, in Oxford, England, near Oxford railway station in Osney. It is located between Becket Street to the west and Hollybush Row to the east, with St Th ...

, then rector of St Ebbe's Church, Oxford and lecturer at Carfax, and subsequently chaplain to James, Duke of Ormonde. He became Chaplain to the House of Commons and a prebendary of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

in 1689. He later became Sub-Dean and

. When

Thomas Tenison Thomas Tenison (29 September 163614 December 1715) was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs. Life He was born at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, the son a ...

, rector of

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. T ...

was appointed Bishop of Lincoln, the Bishop of London claimed the right to appoint to St. James's, appointing Birch on 11 July 1692.

Queen Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife A ...

, being satisfied that St. James's was a crown appointment, appointed

William Wake William Wake (26 January 165724 January 1737) was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 until his death in 1737. Life Wake was born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, and educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He took ...

. These conflicting claims led to litigation between Birch and Wake in the court of king's bench, and eventually the House of Lords decided the case on appeal, on 12 January 1695, in Wake's favour. According to

Abel Boyer Abel Boyer (1667? – 16 November 1729) was a French-English lexicographer, journalist and miscellaneous writer. Biography Abel Boyer was probably born on 24 June 1667 at Castres, in Upper Languedoc, southern France. His father, Pierre Boyer, o ...

, Birch, a "great stickler for the

high-church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originat ...

party", was probably ousted from St. James's after offending the court by preaching an unsuitable sermon on

King William III William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the ...

's birthday. Shortly afterwards, on 19 March 1695, Birch was presented by the dean and chapter of Westminster to the vicarage of

St Bride's Church St Bride's Church is a church in the City of London, England. The building's most recent incarnation was designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1672 in Fleet Street in the City of London, though Wren's original building was largely gutted by fire d ...

, Fleet Street. Birch was married three times: firstly in 1686 to Mary (died 1688), daughter of the poet

Edmund Waller Edmund Waller, FRS (3 March 1606 – 21 October 1687) was an English poet and politician who was Member of Parliament for various constituencies between 1624 and 1687, and one of the longest serving members of the English House of Commons. So ...

; secondly in 1697 to Martha (died 1703), daughter of Samuel Vyner and widow of Francis Millington; thirdly to Sybil (died 1708), daughter of Humphrey Wyrley. With his third wife he had two sons, Humphrey Birch and John Wyrley Birch. He died on 2 July 1710, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birch, Peter 1650s births 1710 deaths Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Chaplains of the House of Commons (UK) Archdeacons of Westminster