Thomas Bacon (priest)

Thomas Bacon
Rev. Thomas Bacon, rector at All Saints Church, Frederick
Born	1711 Isle of Man
Died	May 24, 1768(1768-05-24) (aged 57) Frederick, Maryland
Spouse(s)	widow (d. 1750) Elizabeth Bozman Belchier (surviving)
Children	John, Rachel, Elizabeth, Mary

Thomas Bacon (1711 – 1768) was an Episcopal clergyman, musician, poet, publisher and author. Considered the most learned man in Maryland of his day, Bacon is still known as the first compiler of Maryland statutes.

The eldest child of mariner William Bacon and his second wife, Elizabeth Richardson, Thomas was probably born a year or so after their 1710 marriage. He had an elder half-brother William and a younger brother Anthony (baptised in 1716). Thomas Bacon was either born on the Isle of Man, or at his parents' earlier home in Whitehaven, a port town in Cumberland, after which they moved to the island.

He probably received a very good education for his time, because by the mid-1730s, Bacon lived in Dublin and worked in the royal customs service. He had previously managed vessels in the coal trade between Whitehaven and Dublin. In 1737, Bacon published his first book, A Compleat System of the Revenue of Ireland, in its Branches of Import, Export, and Inland Duties, Containing I. An Abridgement of English and Irish Statutes Relating to the Revenue of Ireland II. The Former and Additional Book of Rates Inwards and Outwards, etc. III. A View of the Duties which Compose the Revenue of Ireland, etc. IV. The Method of Making Entries, etc. This earned an invitation for him to become a free citizen of Dublin, with associated privileges.

By 1741, Bacon had married and was publishing the biweekly Dublin Mercury, possibly with the help of his wife or his elder half-brother William, as well as auctioning goods and operating a coffeehouse. In addition to private pamphlets and handbills, Bacon also published the official Irish newspaper, the Dublin Gazette in 1642 and 1643, but abruptly ceased publication in July, after which Augustus Long resumed publication on August 23, 1743. In the interim, a copyright dispute between author Samuel Richardson and other Irish publishers of his controversial novel Pamela, may have caused problems for Bacon, as some characterized him as an agent for the English publisher for selling imported copies after an Irish publisher had printed the first page required under Irish copyright law at the time (which changed as a result of the dispute).

Rather than continue his various businesses or pursue a civil service career, Bacon decided to study for the ministry. He returned to the Isle of Man and studied under Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man. At Kirk Michael, Wilson ordained Bacon as a deacon on 23 September 1744, and on 10 March 1745 as a priest "in order to go into the Plantations".