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SIR RICHARD BAKER (1568-1644/5)

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 227 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SIR RICHARD BAKER (1568-1644/5)  , author of the Chronicle of the Kings of England and other
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works, was probably born at Sissinghurst in Kent, and entered Hart Hall, Oxford, as a commoner in 1584 . He
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left the university without taking a degree, studied law in
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London and afterwards travelled in
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Europe . In 1593 he was chosen member of parliament for Arundel, in 1594 his university conferred upon him the degree of M.A., and in 1597 he was elected to parliament as the representative of East Grinstead . In 1603 he was knighted by King James I., in 162o he acted as high
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sheriff at Oxfordshire where he owned some
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property, and soon afterwards he married Margaret, daughter of
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Sir George Mainwaring, of Ightfield, Shropshire . By making himself responsible for some debts of his wife's
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family, he was reduced to
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great poverty, which led to the seizure of his Oxfordshire property in 1625 . Quite penniless, he took
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refuge in the
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Fleet prison in 1635, and was still in confinement when he died on the 18th of
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February 1644 (1645) . He was buried in the church of St Bride, Fleet Street, London . During his imprisonment Baker spent his time mainly in writing . His chief
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work is the Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans' Government unto the
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Death of King James (1643, and many subsequent
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editions) . It was translated into Dutch in 1649, and was continued down to 1658 by
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Edward Phillips, a
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nephew of John Milton . For many years the Chronicle was extremely popular, but owing to numerous inaccuracies its
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historical value is very slight . Baker also wrote Cato Variegates or Catoes Morall Distichs, Translated and Paraphrased by Sir Richard Baker, Knight (London, 1636); Meditations on the Lord's Prayer (1637);
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Translation of New Epistles by Moonsieur D'Balzac (1638); Apologie for Laymen's Writing in Divinity, with a Short Meditation upon the Fall of Lucifer 11641); Motives for Prayer upon the seaven dayes of ye weeke (1642); a translation of Malvezzi's Discourses upon Cornelius Tacitus (1642), and TheatrumRedivivum, or The Theatre Vindicated, a reply to the Histrio-Mastix of William Prynne (1642) .

He also wrote Meditations upon several of the

psalms of David, which have been collected and edited by A . B . Grosart (London, 1882) . See J . Granger,
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Biographical
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History of England to the Revolution (London, 1804) ; Biographic Britannica, corrected by A . Kippis (London, 1778-1793) .

End of Article: SIR RICHARD BAKER (1568-1644/5)
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