Colonel John Birch | |
|---|---|
&sq=crain_ford&lang=en&file=File:Birch_memorial,_Weobley.JPG) John Birch's monument, St Peter & St Paul's, Weobley [a] | |
| MP for Weobley | |
| In office 1679–1691 | |
| MP for Penryn | |
| In office 1661–1679 | |
| High Steward of Leominster | |
| In office 1648–1660 | |
| MP for Leominster | |
| In office 1646–1660 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 September 1615 Ardwick Manor, near Manchester |
| Died | 10 May 1691 (aged 75) Garnstone Manor, Weobly |
| Resting place | St Peter and St Paul's, Weobley |
| Nationality | English |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Deane (died 1671) Winifred Norris (died 1717) |
| Relations | Thomas Birch (1608-1678) |
| Children | Two sons, three daughters |
| Parent(s) | Samuel and Mary Birch |
| Occupation | Wine merchant, soldier, politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  England 1642–1646 |
| Years of service | 1642 to 1646 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands | Governor of Hereford 1645-1646 |
| Battles/wars | |
Colonel John Birch (7 September 1615 – 10 May 1691) was a soldier and politician from Manchester in England. He fought for the Parliamentarians in the First English Civil War, and was a Member of Parliament at various times between 1646 and 1691.
Considered a moderate, he was excluded from Parliament in Pride's Purge of December 1648, and prevented from taking his seat for Leominster under the Protectorate. After the 1660 Stuart Restoration, he was restored to favour and sat on over 122 Parliamentary Committees. During the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, he supported barring the Catholic James II from the throne, and subsequently backed the 1689 Glorious Revolution.
A contemporary Gilbert Burnet later described him as "...the roughest and boldest speaker in the House, [with]] the language and phrases of a carrier...he spoke always with much life and heat, but judgment was not his talent."[1]
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- ^ Burnet 1734, pp. 90–91.