Birch initially served in the
11th Dragoons during the
Seven Years' War.[7] Under the command of
John Hale, Birch served as Captain in the newly formed 17th Regiment of (Light) Dragoons in 1759. The regiment was stationed in Scotland for three years.[8] In 1771, as Major Birch, he fell under the command of
George Preston.[9] On 24 April 1773 he became commissioned as a Lieut. Colonel.[10] After the war, the regiment was stationed in Ireland for 11 years.
In 1780, serving under the command of Colonel
George Preston, Birch became commandant of New York City.[18][19][12]
General
Guy Carleton appointed Birch to determine which Blacks had earned their freedom as Loyalist soldiers. These meetings became known as "The Birch Trials" and they happened at
Fraunces Tavern, NYC every Wednesday from April to November of 1783. Its members judged each black on the testimony that he/she offered as evidence of loyal service. There were 3,500 freed slaves.[20][21]
On August 21, 1783, Birch left New York. (General
Thomas Musgrave would sign his name to more than 340 additional emancipation certificates before the last Black Loyalist had set sail for Nova Scotia on November 30, 1783.)[22] After the war, the regiment returned to Ireland (1784).[23] They were under the command of
Thomas Gage (1783–1784).
He remained in the 17th Regiment as a Lieutenant Col. in 1785 – 1793 under
Col. Thomas, Earl of Lincoln. The Regiment was posted to Jamaica and he became a Major General (1790).[24][2] For his last year with the regiment, 1794, he was under the command of
Col Thomas, Duke of Newcastle.[25][26][2] He was the last surviving soldier of those who had originally established the regiment 35 years earlier (1759–1794).[27]
Family
Birch's great grandfather was Major Samuel Birch and his great, great uncle was Col.
John Birch.[28][29]
Birch was the son of Samuel Birch (1690–1757) of Lower
Ardwick and Elizabeth Hill (1704–1782) of
Manchester. Samuel Sr. was a
High Sheriff of Lancashire he also donated the site for the St. Thomas Chapel, Ardwick (1740) (present-day St. Thomas Centre).[30][31][32] Birch was baptised at
Gorton Chapel (1735).[33][34] His father's will left the manors of Upper and Lower Ardwick to his son Thomas, who then willed them to his brother Samuel. Samuel owned them for 15 years (1780–1795).[35] In 1795, Birch sold his properties to William Horridge, which was legally contested (Watson v. Birch).[29][a] With the sale of these properties and the lack of hiers, one commentator wrote,
"And so the story of the vicissitudes of the ancient owners of the lands of Ardwick closes. The old family of the Birches seem to have quite disappeared from the seat and scene of their past prosperity. Captains and major-generals and high-sheriffs, men of a renown larger than their own lands, wider than the great country wherein they formerly flourished! "Sic transit gloria mundi."[37][38]
The sale of the estates in 1795 is that last known record of Birch other than that he died January 1811 at age 76, without marrying or having children.[33] He lived the last fifteen years of his life in
Ludgate Hill,
London, but the location of his gravestone is unknown.[39]
Legacy
Birch is the namesake of
Birchtown, Nova Scotia and Birchtown, Guysborough County, Nova Scotia