also a member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham. On 3 May 1787 he communicated to the Royal Society some ‘Experiments on the Congelation of the Vitriolic Acid’ (Phil. Trans. vol. lxxvii.), and on 1 May 1788 ‘Remarks on the Principle of Acidity, Decomposition of Water, and Phlogiston’ (ib. vol. lxxviii.). Another paper from his pen, on ‘Fossil Alkali,’ appeared in 1788 in vol. vi. of the ‘Transactions of the Society of Arts,’ of which he was a member. Keir published the first part of his ‘Dictionary of Chemistry’ in 1789. He discontinued it upon becoming convinced of the weakness of his theory of phlogiston. On 20 May 1790 he communicated to the Royal Society ‘Experiments and Observations on the Dissolution of Metals in Acids, and their Precipitations, with an Account of a new compound Acid Menstruum, useful in some technical operations of parting metals’ (ib. vol. lxxx. pt. ii.). This paper contains suggestions which probably contributed to the discovery of the electro-plate process. In 1791 Keir wrote, at the special desire of the widow, a memoir of his friend Thomas Day [q. v.], author of ‘Sandford and Merton.’ During the same year his avowal of sympathy with the French revolution at a public dinner on 14 July exposed him to much virulent abuse. He defended himself and Priestley in various pamphlets, such as the ‘Extinguisher Maker,’ ‘T. Sobersides,’ and ‘High Church Politics.’ In 1793 he published a pamphlet entitled ‘The Martial Character of Nations,’ arguing that the French were not likely to become so pacific as to make national defence less necessary. Ten years later he wrote ‘Reflections on the Invasion of Great Britain by the French Armies; on the Mode of Defence; and on the useful application of the National Levies’ (1803).
About 1794 Keir and Blair purchased land at Tividale, near Dudley, on which they established the Tividale colliery. Keir had long studied the mineralogy of Staffordshire, and in 1798 wrote an article upon it for Stebbing Shaw, who was about to publish his ‘History of Staffordshire.’ He also gave Shaw valuable information respecting the manufactures of Staffordshire. Sir Humphry Davy, while visiting Gregory Watt at Birmingham in 1800, was introduced to Keir, and found him amiable as well as great (J. Davy, Life of Sir H. Davy, 1839, p. 78). In February 1811 Keir forwarded to the Geological Society ‘An Account of the Strata in sinking a Pit in Tividale Colliery,’ accompanied by a number of specimens. On 19 Dec. 1807, while Keir was staying with Blair at Hilton Park, his house at West Bromwich was burnt, though most of his books and papers were saved. For a time he lived at a small farmhouse in the neighbourhood. He died at West Bromwich on 11 Oct. 1820 (Scots Mag. 1820, vii. 480), and was buried on the 19th in the churchyard there (parish register). By his marriage in 1770 to Susanna Harvey (1747–1802) he had an only child, Amelia (1780–1857), who in 1801 married John Lewis Moilliet of Geneva, afterwards merchant and banker of Birmingham.
Keir, who frequently amused himself by writing poetry, suggested to Darwin many improvements (afterwards adopted) for the second part of the ‘Botanic Garden.’ The most valuable portion of his correspondence was destroyed by the fire at his daughter's residence, Abberley Hall, Worcestershire, on 25 Dec. 1845. A selection from what was saved, with a sketch of his life, was printed for private circulation in 1859.
[Mrs. Amelia Moilliet's Sketch of the Life of J. Keir, 1859.]
KEIR, WILLIAM GRANT (1772–1852), general. [See Grant, Sir William Keir.]
KEITH, Viscount (1746–1823), admiral. [See Elphinstone, George Keith.]
KEITH, Viscountesses. [See Elphinstone, Hester Maria, 1762–1857; Elphinstone, Margaret Mercer, 1788–1867.]
KEITH, ALEXANDER (d. 1758), Mayfair parson, was in 1730 appointed to officiate at a newly built chapel in Mayfair, and soon afterwards commenced to advertise in the daily journals his willingness to celebrate marriages without either banns or license. Persons of all ranks consequently resorted to Mayfair Chapel, and Keith, as Horace Walpole says, ‘constructed a very bishopric of revenue.’ His irregular proceedings were denounced by Dr. Trebeck, the rector of St. George's, Hanover Square, who instituted a suit against him in Doctors' Commons. Keith appeared in person, defended himself at great length, and alleged that he had been admitted to priest's orders by the Bishop of Norwich, by letters dimissory from the Bishop of London, about 13 June 1731, and that at the time of his nomination he held the appointment of preacher at the Rolls Chapel. The court gave judgment against him. On 27 Oct. 1742 sentence of excommunication was pronounced against him by Dr. Edmund Gibson, bishop of London, Keith impudently retaliating by excommunicating within the walls of Mayfair Chapel the diocesan, the judge of the court (Dr. Andrews), and the rector of St. George's. On 24 Jan. 1743 a significavit was issued for Keith's ar-
