SIR RICHARD BAKER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 June 1941, Page 3

SIR RICHARD BAKER

WORK ACCOMPLISHED IN PRISON. Remembered for his chronicle of the kings of England from Roman times to the Stuarts, Sir Richard Baker, a man of Kent, did most of his work in prison. He shared rooms at Oxford with Sir Henry Wotton. studied law in London, and finished his education by a foreign tour which extended as far as Poland. Member of Parliament for Arundel in 1593, he was knighted by James I. at Theobalds in 1603, when he was residing in Highgate. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir George Mainwaring, of Shropshire, and good-naturedly became surety for heavy debts owed by his wife’s family, thus falling a victim to a series of money misfortunes. Reported to be a debtor to the crown, his property was seized, and in 1635 he was so utterly destitute that he needs must seek refuge in the Fleet prison. At 68 he took up literary work. His first book was written in one month. In 1637 he published “Meditations of the Lord’s Prayer,” and in 1638 he issued a translation of “New Epistles by Monsieur D’Balzac.” He wrote many other religious works, but is remembered for his “Chroneles of the Kings,” the work having many editions and being translated into Dutch. Addison in his “Spectator” represents Sir Roger de Coverley as frequently reading and quoting the “Chronicle,” which always lay in the hall window, and Feilding also refers to it as part of the furniture in Sir Thomas Booby’s home.