John Birch (Roundhead)

Colonel
John Birch
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
Born7 September 1615
Ardwick Manor, near Manchester
Died10 May 1691(1691-05-10) (aged 75)
Garnstone Manor, Weobly
Resting placeSt Peter and St Paul's, Weobley
NationalityEnglish
Spouse(s)Alice Deane (died 1671)
Winifred Norris (died 1717)
RelationsThomas Birch (1608-1678)
ChildrenTwo sons, three daughters
Parent(s)Samuel and Mary Birch
OccupationWine merchant, soldier, politician
Military service
Allegiance England 1642–1646
Years of service1642 to 1646
RankColonel
CommandsGovernor 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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  1. ^ Burnet 1734, pp. 90–91.