Benjamin Heath

Life

He was born at Exeter, the eldest of three sons of Benjamin Heath and Elizabeth Kelland. of a wealthy merchant, and devoted himself mainly to travel and book collecting. He became town clerk of his native city in 1752, and held the office till his death.

Works

In 1763 the ministry of Lord Bute imposed an excise tax of 4 shillings per hogshead on cider and perry on Britain's cider-producing agricultural counties. In Devon, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire protest meetings were common, and violent attacks occurred against the ministry. In 1763 soon after the enactment of the new tax, Heath published the pamphlet The Case of the County of Devon with respect to the consequences of the new Excise Duty on Cyder and Perry advocating the repeal of the cider tax in Devonshire, and his endeavours led to success three years later.

As a classical scholar Heath made his reputation by his critical and metrical notes on the Greek tragedians, which procured him an honorary DCL from Oxford (March 31, 1752). He also left manuscript notes on Burmann's and Martyn's editions of Virgil, on Euripides, Catullus, Tibullus, and the greater part of Hesiod. In some of these he adopts the whimsical name Dexiades Ericius. His Revisal of Shakespear's Text (1765) was an answer to what he saw as the dogmatism of William Warburton.

The Essay towards a Demonstrative Proof of the Divine Existence, Unity and Attributes (1740) was intended to combat the opinions of Voltaire, Rousseau and Hume.

Family

In 1732, Heath married Rose Marie (1718–1808), daughter of Geneva merchant John Michelet. Rose Marie bore him seven sons and six daughters. Two of his sons were Benjamin, headmaster of Harrow (1771–1785), and George, headmaster of Eton (1796). His collection of rare classical works formed the nucleus of his son Benjamin's famous library (Bibliotheca Heathiana).