Arthur Nonus Birch was born in 1836 in Yoxford, Suffolk.
1 In 1855, Birch was appointed to the position of Private Secretary to Sir
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and subsequently to the Duke of
Newcastle and
Chichester Fortescue.
2 Birch travelled with newly appointed Governor
Frederick Seymour to
British Columbia as his personal secretary in 1863.
3 In 1864, he was promoted to the position of resident colonial secretary of
British Columbia.
4 Then, from 1866 to 1867, Birch was made acting Governor of
British Columbia in
Frederick Seymour’s absence.
5 Birch was unable to deal effectively with the economic issues the colony faced, and
by some accounts aggravated them.
6 Birch then held a position on the Executive Council of
Victoria until 1871.
7 Birch then relocated to Penang where he became Lieutenant Governor in 1871.
8 Finally, in 1873 he was made colonial secretary of Ceylon colony.
9
Birch married Josephine Watts-Russell, and received a knighthood before his political
retirement in 1876.10 By 1891, Birch had moved to the private sector where he worked for the Bank of England.11 Birch died in 1914.12