Biography

Baker was probably born in 1773. He himself, at the tune of his matriculation

Matriculation

Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...

 at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 in 1797, stated his age to be twenty-four, thus dating his birth at 1773; in after life, however, he considered himself to have been born in 1750. But the later date is most probably the correct one, since the eccentricities of character which marked the latter part of his life might well account for his imagining himself much older than he really was.

He was born at Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

, and received his first musical instruction from his mother's sister, becoming, it is said, a proficient on the harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

 at the age of seven. He was next placed under Hugh Bond and William Jackson

William Jackson

-In politics:*William Jackson , US Congressman from Massachusetts*William Jackson , Secretary to the Philadelphia Convention and member of the U.S. Continental Army...

 of Exeter, remaining there until his seventeenth year, when he came to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 under the patronage of the Earl of Uxbridge. His patron caused him to become a pupil of Cramer and Dussek, and during his residence in London he performed 'his celebrated "Storm"' at the Hanover Square Rooms

Hanover Square Rooms

The Hanover Square Rooms or the Queen's Concert Rooms were assembly rooms established, principally for musical performances, on the corner of Hanover Square, London, by Sir John Gallini in partnership with Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel in 1774. For exactly one century this was the...

, meeting with the approbation of Dr. Burney.

In 1794 or 1795 he was appointed organist of St. Mary's Church, Stafford, a new organ by Geib having been purchased five years before. He seems to have matriculated and taken the degree of Mus. Bac. in 1797 at Oxford, but he appears not to have taken his doctor's degree during his residence at Stafford

Stafford

Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...

, for in the Corporation Books of that town he is called 'Mr. Baker.' The same documents hint at a state of affairs that can hardly have been satisfactory. On 5 March 1795 there is an entry to the effect 'that the organist be placed under restrictions as to the use of the organ, and that the mayor have a master key to prevent him having access thereto.' And on 16 July in the same year 'it is ordered that Mr. George Baker be in future prohibited from playing the piece of music called "The Storm."' The inhabitants of Stafford did not therefore concur in Dr. Burney's opinion as to the excellence of this piece, apparently its composer's chef d'œuvre. During the following years several entries prove that Baker habitually neglected his duties, and on 19 May 1800 the entry is 'Resignation of Baker.'

In 1799 he had married the eldest daughter of the Rev. E. Knight of Milwich. If he ever took the degree of Mus. Doc., it must have been in or before 1800, as after that year the registers in Oxford were most carefully kept, but they contain no entry of the kind, while from 1763 to 1800 musical degrees were systematically omitted from the register, so that the absence of his name from the list does not absolutely prove that he did not receive the degree. In the published copies of several glees, printed about this time and dedicated to the Earl of Uxbridge, he is called simply 'Mus. Bac. Oxon.;' thus we are entitled to regard his claim to the more distinguished title as at least problematical.

In 1810 he was appointed to the post of organist at All Saints', Derby

Derby

Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...

, and finally, in 1824, he accepted a similar situation at Rugeley

Rugeley

Rugeley is a historic market town in the county of Staffordshire, England. It lies on the northern edge of Cannock Chase, and is situated roughly midway between the towns of Stafford, Cannock, Lichfield and Uttoxeter...

, where he remained until his death, which took place on 19 Feb. 1847. Since 1839 his duties had been undertaken by a deputy. He produced a large number of compositions, which are now completely forgotten. He is said to have been singularly handsome, with an exceedingly fair complexion; generous, even to the point of improvidence. In his later years the eccentricities, which probably gave rise to a large proportion of his difficulties with the Stafford authorities, increased, and he was moreover afflicted with deafness.