Booth Famous Kin
"Old" Sir George Booth, 1st Baronet of Dunham Massey, My 6th great-great uncle
"Old" George Booth lived
to be 80 years of age, dying in 1652, and married three times. He outlived his son,
Sir William Booth who died in 1632, so was succeeded by his grandson. "Old" George Booth married heiresses and
established the family on a firmer financial basis.
Born on October 20th, 1566, Sir George was, on the death of his father, still a minor and had been made a ward of Queen Elizabeth I.
Queen Elizabeth I selected Robert Dudley, Earl of Liecester and for many years the most powerful and influential
courtier in England. George Booth
was knighted in 1599 and created Baronet by King James I in 1609.
"Old" George built the Elizabethan house at Dunham Massey and made it the family seat. He was married in 1577 to Jane,
daughter and heiress of John Carrington, he being 11 and his wife 15 years old at the time. She was an orphan, her
father having died only the month previously. She died without issue, and he obtained by suit possession of the
lands of Carrington.
His second wife was Catherine, daughter of Sir Edmund Anderson, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and by her
he had a large family.
He was, like all Englishmen of the period, seized with the contagion of patriotism, and contributed liberally as did
his mother towards the armaments which were raised for the defence of the kingdom.
Sir George was Sheriff of Chester for the first time in 1597, was created a baronet by patent bearing date May 22nd,
1611 in the ninth year of the reign of James I., being the tenth person who was created a baronet after the
institution of that order. To entitle him to this honor he was amply possessed of all material requisites.
Webb, in his "Itinerary," speaks of the beautiful seat of Dunham, at that time "never more graced than in the
present possessor, upon whom, and his most worthy son, William Booth, Esquire, the world hath deservedly
set great love and affection, himself bearing a chief sway in the great commands of regiments in the country,
and his son already giving proof of that wisdom and moderation in government which have adorned his ancestors before him."
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"Young" Sir George Booth, 2nd Baronet, 1st Lord Delamer, My 2nd cousin
"Young" Sir George Booth was the son of Sir William Booth of Dunham Massey and Margaret Assheton.
Sir William Booth was the son and heir apparent to "Old" Sir George Booth, 1st Baronet (1566.1652),
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.
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. 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.
An uprising was arranged for August 5th in several districts and Booth took charge of operations in Cheshire,
Lancashire and North Wales. After gaining control of Chester on the 19th, he marched towards York. The plot,
however was discovered and Booth's men were defeated at the Battle of Winnington Bridge near Northwich.
Booth escaped disguised as a woman but was discovered on the 23rd while having a shave and imprisoned in the
Tower of London.
Booth was liberated and returned to his seat in the Convention Parliament in 1660. On April 20, 1661 on the
occasion of King Charles II coronation he was created Baron Delamer, with a licence to
nominate six new knights.
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.
George Booth died on August 8 1684 and was buried in the Booth Chapel at Bowdon Church.
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George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington, My 4th cousin
George Booth, 2nd Earl of Warrington (May 2, 1675 - August 2, 1758) was a British peer.
He was the second son of Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, by Mary, daughter of Sir James
Langham, Bart, of Cottesbrooke. He was born at Merehall, Cheshire on May 2 1675.
On the death of his father in 1694 he succeeded to the title and also received the
appointment of Lord-Lieutenant of Chester, another nobleman being nominated to discharge the
duties during his minority.
In 1702, he married Mary, daughter of Sir John Oldbury, a merchant, of St Dunstan's in the East,
by his wife, Mary Bohun. Booth's wife died in 1740. Their only child, Mary, married in 1736,
Henry Grey, 4th Earl of Stamford who inherited the estates in Cheshire and Lancashire.
Upon Booth's death the Earldom of Warrington became extinct whilst the family titles of Baron Delamer
and the Baronetcy created in 1611 devolved upon his cousin Nathaniel Booth. However his only
daughter, Lady Mary Booth, the wife of Henry Grey 4th Earl of Stamford, inherited all the
Booth estates including Dunham Massey. Their son, George Grey 5th Earl of Stamford was created
Earl of Warrington.
In 1739, he wrote, Considerations upon the Institution of Marriage, with some thoughts
concerning the force and obligation of the marriage contract, wherein is considered how
far divorces may or may not be allowed, By a Gentleman, Humbly submitted to the judgment of
the impartial. It is an argument in favor of divorce on the grounds of incompatibility of
temper.
He died on 2 Aug. 1758, and was buried in the family vault at Bowden.
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Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington, 2nd Baron Delamer, My 3rd cousin
(January 13 1652 - January 2 1694) was a Member of Parliament, Privy Councillor,
Protestant protagonist in the Revolution of 1688, Mayor of Chester and author.
He was a son of George Booth, Baron Delamer and Lady Elizabeth Grey.
His maternal grandparents were Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford and Anne Cecil, daughter of
William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter.
He served as a Member of Parliament for Cheshire in 1678, 1679 and 1679-1681,
and was conspicuous for his opposition to Catholics. He married Mary Langham,
daughter of Sir James Langham, 2nd Baronet, on July 7 1670, and they had three
children, George, Elizabeth, and Mary. In 1684, he succeeded his father as
the 2nd Baron Delamer.
At a treason trial in the House of Lords in January 1685/6, Delamer was accused
of participation in the Monmouth Rebellion, and the presiding judge in the case
was Judge Jeffreys, as Lord High Steward, sitting with thirty other peers. The
defense secured an acquittal.
During the Revolution of 1688, Booth declared in favor of William of Orange,
and raised an army in Cheshire in support of him. After William was installed
as William III, he made Booth chancellor of the exchequer in 1689. Booth wrote
a number of political tracts, which were published after his death as The
Works of the Right Honourable Henry, Late L. Delamer, and Earl of Warrington.
He was created Earl of Warrington on April 17, 1690 and became mayor of Chester in
October 1691. He died on January 2 1694.
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Lady Mary Booth, 1704 - 1772, Daughter and Heiress of George Booth, My 5th cousin
Lady Mary was the heiress to the Dunham Massey estate and the last of the Booths of Dunham Massey, a
noble dynasty that had lasted for more than 500 years.
Unusual for the time, her father, George Booth,
the 2nd Earl of Warrington, wanted his only daughter to have full control of her property and left it in trust for her
benefit, rather than leaving it to her outright, so that when she married it wouldn't automatically
be transferred to her husband.
At the relatively late age of 32 in 1736 Lady Mary married her much younger cousin , Harry, Lord Grey Of Grosby.
Shortly after the marriage his father died and Harry became the 4th Earl of Stamford, inheriting extensive estates
in Leicestershire and Staffordshire as well as the family home in Enville near Stourbridge. Lady Mary became the
Countess of Stamford.
The marriage brought the Booth and Grey family estates at Dunham Massey and Enville Hall together.
Although it was probably an arranged marriage it seems to have been a succesful one. The Countess of
Stamford was highly educated and intellectual, and the books with her bookplate in the Dunham Massey library
include natural history, poetry, plays and religious topics.
Upon Mary's death in 1772 the Dunham Massey estate passed to the Grey family who maintained ownership
until 1976 when the estate was donated to the National Trust.
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