George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer

Lord Delamer

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (August 1622  8 August 1684), styled Sir George Booth, 2nd Bt, from 1652 to 1661, until his elevation to the House of Lords as an English peer.

Civil War

Booth was son of William Booth, the son and heir apparent to Sir George Booth, 1st Bt, of the ancient family settled at Dunham Massey in Cheshire, by his wife Vere Egerton, daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Egerton. He took an active part in the English Civil War alongside his grandfather, Sir George Booth on the Parliamentarians' side. He was returned to the Long Parliament as Member of Parliament for Cheshire in 1645.[1]

Interregnum

George Booth was nominated to the Barebones Parliament for Cheshire in 1653 and was elected MP for Cheshire in the First Protectorate Parliament in 1654 and in the Second Protectorate Parliament in 1656.[1] In 1655 he was appointed military commissioner for Cheshire and treasurer at war. He was one of the excluded members who tried and failed to regain their seats in the restored Rump Parliament after the fall of Richard Cromwell in 1659.[2]

He had for some time been regarded by the Royalists as a well-wisher to their cause, and was described to the King in May 1659 as "very considerable in his county, a Presbyterian in opinion, yet so moral a man. . . I think Your Majesty may safely [rely] on him and his promises which are considerable and hearty". He thus became one of the chief leaders of the new Royalists who united with the Cavaliers to effect the Restoration.[2]

Uprising

An uprising[3] was arranged for 5 August 1659 in several districts, and Booth took charge of operations in Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales. After gaining control of Chester on the 19th, he issued a proclamation declaring that "arms had been taken up in vindication of the freedom of Parliament, of the known laws, liberty and property",[2] and then marched towards York. The plot, however, was known to John Thurloe. Having been foiled in other parts of the country, Lambert's advancing forces defeated Booth's men at the Battle of Winnington Bridge near Northwich.[2][4][5] Booth himself escaped disguised as a woman, but was discovered at Newport Pagnell on the 23rd whilst having a shave, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London.[2]

Restoration

However, Booth was soon liberated and returned to his seat in the Convention Parliament in 1660.[1] He was one of the twelve members deputed to carry the message of the House of Commons to Charles II at The Hague. In July 1660 he received a grant of £10,000 according to the House of Commons Journal for 30 July 1660, having refused the larger sum of £20,000 at first offered to him, and on 20 April 1661, on the occasion of the coronation, he was created Baron Delamer, with a licence to nominate six new knights. The same year he was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Cheshire.[2]

In later years he showed himself staunchly opposed to the reactionary policies of the government. He died on 8 August 1684, and was buried in the Booth Chapel at Bowdon Church.[2]

Family

Booth's first marriage was to Catherine, daughter and co-heir of Theophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, with whom he had one daughter. After the death of his first wife he married Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford, by whom, besides five daughters, he had seven sons, the second of whom, Henry, succeeded him in the Booth titles and estates and who was later created Earl of Warrington. Although this earldom became extinct on the death of the 2nd Earl in 1758, the Booth Barony of Delamer carried on another generation, only becoming extinct upon the 4th Baron's death in 1770. The Booths' even older baronetcy title then devolved upon a distant cousin, the Rev Sir George Booth, Rector of Ashton-under-Lyne, although the family's representation in the House of Lords had ceased; the Delamer title was later recreated (as Delamere) in 1821 for the Cholmondeley family, kinsmen of the Marquesses of Cholmondeley and the Cholmeley baronets.[2]

NameBirthDeathNotes
By Catherine Clinton[6]
Vere Booth19 July 164314 November 1717unmarried; Canonbury House, Islington 
By Elizabeth Grey[6]
William Booth17 April 164820 Jan 1661 
Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington13 Jan 16522 Jan 1693/94 
Charles Boothdied at Paris 
George Booth1726married Lucy Robartes
Very Rev Robert Booth16628 Aug 1730 
Elizabeth Booth4 July 1681married Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway; no surviving issue
Diana Booth7 October 1713married 1677, Admiral Sir Ralph Delaval, 2nd Bt; married 21 October 1699, Sir Edward Blackett, 2nd Bt
Cecil Booth16 May 1711unmarried
Ann Boothdied young 
Jane Boothdied young 
Sophia Boothdied young 
Nevill Booth16671685merchant adventurer

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Helms, Hampson & Henning 1983.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Anonymous 1911.
  3. Booth's Uprising, 1659 (BCW Project)
  4. Young 1973, p. 4.
  5. Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 implies that the battle took place near Nantwich — Winnington Bridge is about a mile from Northwich.(Ormerod 1819, p. 111)
  6. 1 2 "Person Page 14348". Thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2012-08-17.

References

Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about Booth, George (1622-1684).
Attribution

Further reading

Parliament of England
Preceded by
Peter Venables
Sir William Brereton, Bt
Member of Parliament for Cheshire
1646–1653
With: Sir William Brereton, Bt
Succeeded by
Robert Duckenfield
Henry Birkenhead
Preceded by
Robert Duckenfield
Henry Birkenhead
Member of Parliament for Cheshire
1654–1659
With: John Bradshaw 1654–1656
Henry Brooke 1654–1656
John Crew 1654–1656
Richard Legh 1656–1659
Thomas Marbury 1656–1659
Peter Brooke 1656–1659
Succeeded by
John Bradshaw
Richard Legh
Preceded by
John Bradshaw
Richard Legh
Member of Parliament for Cheshire
1660–1661
With: Sir Thomas Mainwaring, Bt
Succeeded by
The Lord Brereton
Peter Venables
Honorary titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Sir Orlando Bridgeman
Custos Rotulorum of Cheshire
1661–1673
Succeeded by
Hon. Henry Booth
Peerage of England
New creation Baron Delamer
1st creation
1661–1684
Succeeded by
Henry Booth
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
George Booth
Baronet
(of Dunham Massey)
1652–1684
Succeeded by
Henry Booth
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