Author: Baker, Henry
Biography:
BAKER, Henry (1698-1774: ODNB)
A prior author, Henry Baker is included in the database because the 1808 edition of his poem, The Universe, included new text written by the editor, Abraham Crocker (q.v.). Baker was born on 8 May 1698 in London to William Baker, a clerk in Chancery, and his wife Mary Pengry. Although he completed an apprenticeship with John Parker, a bookseller in Pall Mall, he found his vocation through helping the deaf daughter of a friend and subsequently enjoyed great success in teaching both deaf people and those with speech defects. He married Sophia Defoe, daughter of Daniel Defoe, in April 1729; they had two sons. In 1728 he established a periodical, The Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal, to which Defoe contributed. His poem, The Universe, is usually dated 1727 although G. R. Potter has argued convincingly that 1734 is a more credible date. Baker was a member of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries, and he published several important works on microscopes. In 1744 he was awarded the Copley medal by the Royal Society for his work on crystal morphology. He died in his lodgings in the Strand, London, on 25 Nov. 1774, predeceased by his wife and sons. He left his estate to a grandson and gave £100 to the Royal Society to establish an annual lecture in his name: the Bakerian medal and lecture in physical sciences. (ODNB 31 Oct. 2022; G. R. Potter, “Henry Baker, F. R. S. [1698–1774]” Modern Philology 29 [1931–32]: 301–21) SR