Thomas ArcherThomas Archer was an English Baroque architect who lived from 1668 until 1743. His structures are significant because they are the only ones by an English Baroque architect that exhibit signs of study of contemporary continental architecture, specifially Italian architecture. His work is thought to be eclipsed by those of his colleagues Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Archer was raised at Umberslade Hall in Tanworth-in-Arden, Warwickshire, as the youngest son of Thomas Archer, a country nobleman, Parliamentary Colonel, and Member of Parliament, and Ann Leigh, the daughter of London haberdasher Richard Leigh. Archer's precise birth date is unknown, but it can be deduced from the two documented sources that indicate his age. The first is an entry in the Oxford University register, which records his admission at Trinity College on June 12, 1686, at the age of 17; the second, his tombstone, is preserved in the parish church of Hale, Hampshire. If these records are correct, he was born between 12 June 1668 and 22 May 1669. Thomas is the only Archer child whose birth is not mentioned in the Tamworth-in-Arden parish register, implying that he was born elsewhere. He went to Trinity College, Oxford, where he matriculated on June 12, 1686. Read More Read Less