Benjamin Heath

He was born at Exeter,[1] the eldest of three sons of Benjamin Heath, a wealthy merchant, and Elizabeth Kelland.

[3] 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.

[1] 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 (31 March 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.

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.

[5] His collection of rare classical works formed the nucleus of his son Benjamin's famous library (Bibliotheca Heathiana).