Henry Baker was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

.

Baker was born at Enfield, Middlesex, 10 February 1734, the second son of Henry Baker, F.R.S., and Sophia, daughter of Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...

. According to Nichols (Anecdotes of Bowyer, 416), he followed the profession of a lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, but in no creditable line. He contributed occasional poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and essay

Essay

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...

s to periodicals, and in 1756 published, in two volumes, Essays Pastoral and Elegiac. Wilson, in his Life of Defoe, states that he died 24 August 1776, and was buried in the churchyard

Churchyard

A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language or Northern English language this can also be known as a kirkyard or kirkyaird....

 of St. Mary-le-Strand beside his mother, but the parish register gives the date of his burial as 24 August 1766. According to Chalmers, he left ready for the press an arranged collection of all the statutes relating to bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

, with cases, precedents, &c., entitled The Clerk to the Commission, which is supposed to have been published under another title in 1768. His son, William Baker, born 1763, afterwards rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of Lyndon

Lyndon

Lyndon may refer to a place name or a personal or institutional name.Place name: derived from Old English lind and dun -Places:United Kingdom*Lyndon, Plymouth*Lyndon, Rutland*Lyndon, West Midlands...

 and South Luffenham

South Luffenham

South Luffenham is a village in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England.The village lies largely on the north side of the A6121 road from Uppingham to Stamford. It is divided into two by a small stream, the Foss, which is a tributary of the River Chater...

, Rutlandshire, inherited the property and papers of Henry Baker, F.R.S.