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'An eminent and learned printer, [William Baker] was born in Reading in the year 1742. The zealous, and as far as his health was concerned, injudicious industry with which he applied to his study, introduced him to the notice of a dignitary of the church, who approved of his inclination for entering holy orders. In this however he was by some means disappointed, but he indulged his passion for literature by learning the business of a printer, which he exercised in London until he died. While engaged in this occupation, he enjoyed the friendship of many of the celebrated men of his age, with some of whom he carried on an elegant correspondence in Latin. He possessed a complete and critical knowledge of the Greek, Latin, French and Italian languages, was partially acquainted with Hebrew, and a prefect master of his own. His prose compositions were written with much taste, and his talent for poetry was of a high order. He died in 1785, aged 43 years, and was buried at St. Dionsis Backchurch, London (shown below). A Latin epitaph to his memory is placed on the tomb of his family, in the churchyard at St. Mary's, Reading (above). Also in 'Bibliotheca Britannica' by Robert Watt (1824). The entry for Baker is as follows:
William's younger brother John's short obituary appeared in 1825 in the Gentleman's Magazine. A similar notice appeared in 'Nugæ chirurgicæ' as follows: BAKER, JOHN. Master of the Apothecaries Company 1822. He was the second son of Mr. William Baker (a man of amiable character and manners, of great classical and mathematical learning, and more than 40 years master of an academy at Reading), and younger brother of Mr. William Baker, a learned printer of London, author of " Peregrinations of the Mind," &c. (of whom see Nichols's " Literary Anecdotes," vol. III. p. 716.) John Baker was born at Reading, 1748, and being destined to the practice of medicine, was apprenticed to an Apothecary in Salisbury Square, whom he succeeded in business in 1773, which he carried on with great respectability for 30 years. He retired from business in 1803, and is now resident at Hampstead. Also found the death notice in the Annual Register of 1846 of John's daughter, Eliza: At Little Ealing, after a long illness, in her 62nd year, Eliza, wife of John Bowyer Nichols, esq., F. S. A. of Parliament-street. Eldest daughter of John Baker, esq., of Salisbury-square, and Hampstead. More detail of her life is given in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1846 as follows: At Little Ealing, after a long illness, in her 62d year, Eliza, wife of John Bowyer Nichols, Esq. F.S.A. of Parliament-street. She was the eldest daughter of John Baker, esq. of Salisbury-square and Hampstead, and was married to Mr. Nichols in 1805. Firm, but unobtrusive, in the exercise of every domestic duty, she had also cultivated the higher qualities required in the moral and religious culture of a large family of fourteen children, of whom three sons and five daughters survive. Reflection on her virtues, and her prepared state for entering into the rest of the people of God (and so being relieved from an immitigable burthen of bodily pain), will, it is to be hoped, afford that fund of consolation to her husband and family, which, without impairing the effect of her merits and her example, will in time render them subjects of grateful and resigned, if not pleasing retrospection. Her remains were deposited, on the 17th of January, in a family vault in Kensall- green cemetery. The Nichols family was well known in the publishing world and their entry in the Dictionary of National Biography can be read here. An archive devoted to the Nichols family can be found here.
All of the following
christenings of the Baker family took place at St. Mary's Reading, Berkshire. 1. Thomas 6 Sep 1543.
39. Mary BAKER - 7 Feb 1744 Saint Mary, Reading, Berkshire.
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One of the most
prominent members of the Baker family is 
Baker, William - a learned Printer was born in 1742; died in 1785 - he wrote 'Peregrinations of the Mind, through the most general
and interesting subjects which are usually agitated by Life, by the
Rationalist; a new edition with a Life of the Author', London 1811. This
work can be read 