| Authorised form of name | Kirke; Thomas (1650 - 1706); antiquary and topographer |
| Dates | 1650 - 1706 |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | 22 December 1650 |
| Date of death | 24 April 1706 |
| Occupation | Virtuoso |
| Activity | Education:
Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1668)
Career:
Justice of the Peace; accompanied his distant relative and close friend Ralph Thoresby (FRS 1697) on his antiquarian travels |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 30/11/1693 |
| Proposer | Sir John Hoskins |
| Other Royal Society activity | Had his observations on a lamb published in the 'Philsophical Transactions' (1694);
Very occasional correspondent on natural history |
| Relationships | Parents: Gilbert Kirke and Margaret Layton
Married: Rosamund Abbot
Children: four in total |
| General context | As a result of his travels around Scotland and the Orkney Islands, Kirke published a heavily negative account of the country and its people in a pamphlet dated 1679. His travel companion Thoresby (FRS 1697) announced a memoir on Kirke after his death in 1706, althouh this was not compleed. Together with his son Thomas, Kirke collected a large library and his antiquarian museum at Cookridge, which was sold by auction in 1710. |
| Sources | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Venn; Hunter; ODNB
References:
Armytage, W H G. 1954-55. 'Sir Godfrey Copley, FRS (1653-1709). Some Tercentenary Glimpses through Letters to his Friends', in Notes and Records, vol. 11, pp. 54-74 |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/44648925 |
| Royal Society code | NA5452 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| Reference number | Title | Date |
| MM/14/132 | Letter from Godfrey Copley to Thomas Kirke | 20 November 1667 |
| EL/K/19 | Letter, from Thomas Kirke, [to the Royal Society] dated at Cookridge | 28 September 1694 |
| EL/K/20 | Letter, from Thomas Kirke to Hans Sloane, dated at Cookridge | 2 November 1694 |