Mr Frederick ("Fred") Birch (1876–27 March 1952)

British naturalist. Son of Otto and Susanna Birch, born in Wavertree, Liverpool. Met and befriended ARW in 1897. Set off on an largely unsuccessful biological collection expedition to Trinidad in 1904. In early 1906 travelled to New Hampshire, USA to stay with American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer, who had generously paid for Birch's passage. Married Thayer's daughter Mary Bloede (11 March 1876 - 22 February 1933) on 10 October 1906 in Dublin, New Hampshire. In 1907 the couple moved to Brazil, where Birch worked as a professional collector of natural history specimens. There they had a son (who died in childhood) and a daughter Elsie (Later Birch Reeves, 23 October 1907 - 1 September 1997). They left Brazil in 1913, returning to England via the USA. Mary and Elsie returned to the USA in 1915 and a divorce was granted on 18th October 1918. It appears that he remained in Liverpool and remarried in 1918.