Homer was appointed rector of Birdingbury, Warwickshire, and vicar of Willoughby in 1764; and chaplain to Edward Leigh, 5th Baron Leigh. From 1774 to 1779 he also held the vicarage of Ansty. He died on 24 July 1791, and was buried at Birdingbury.[1]
An Essay on the Nature and Method of ascertaining the specific Shares of Proprietors upon the Inclosure of Common Fields; with Observations on the Inconveniences of Open Fields, and upon the objections to this Inclosure, particularly as far as they relate to the Public and the Poor, Oxford, 1766.
Homer was a commissioner for enclosures, and drew up instructions for the surveyors carrying out the practical work involved.[2] He is considered a significant author on agrarian improvement.[3] Himself a supporter of enclosure, he identified four common objections:
Homer's Essay was published early in the major controversy over enclosures, of 1760 to 1790. During it, he had a local opponent in Stephen Addington.[5]
An Enquiry into the means of Preserving and Improving the Publick Roads of this Kingdom. With Observations on the probable consequences of the present plan, Oxford, 1767. He wrote of a recent "revolution" in transportation.[6]
^Leigh Shaw-Taylor, Labourers, Cows, Common Rights and Parliamentary Enclosure: The Evidence of Contemporary Comment c. 1760-1810, Past & Present No. 171 (May, 2001), pp. 95-126, at p. 105. Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3600815