Peter Birch (c. 1652 – 2 July 1710) was an English clergyman who served as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons and Archdeacon of Westminster. Birch was the son of Thomas Birch MP of Birch Hall, Manchester, and his wife Alice née Brooke. Raised a presbyterian, he was admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1667, and also studied in Oxford, though not initially as a member of the university. (Under the Test Act, he could not graduate at Cambridge or matriculate at Oxford without conforming to the Church of England.) Having declared his conformity to the established church, he was admitted to Christ Church, Oxford by John Fell, Dean of Christ Church, matriculating on 12 May 1673, aged 21. He graduated B.A. March 1674, M.A. June 1674, B.D. 1684, D.D. 1688, and was made a chaplai