Sir George Booth, Baron Delamer MP
George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer
Custos Rotulorum of Cheshire
In office 1660–1673
MP forCheshire
In office 1660–1661
Personal details
Born	18 December 1622 Dunham MasseyCheshire
Died	8 August 1684(1684-08-08) (aged 61) Dunham Massey
Resting place	St Mary the Virgin, Bowdon
Nationality	English
Spouse(s)	Lady Katherine Clinton (1639-1643) Lady Elizabeth Grey (1644-1684)
Children	Seven sons, six daughters
Parent(s)	Sir William Booth (died 1636); Vere Egerton (died 1629)
Occupation	Landowner, soldier, politician
Military service
Allegiance	England 1642–1646
Years of service	1642 to 1646
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	First English Civil War Manchester 1642; Preston 1643;Siege of Chester; Booth's Uprising

George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (18 December 1622 – 8 August 1684), was an English landowner and politician fromCheshire, who served as anMP from 1646 to 1661, when he was elevated to theHouse of Lords asBaron Delamer.

A member of the moderate Presbyterian faction that dominated theLong Parliament and many of the pre-war county elites, Booth fought forParliament during theFirst English Civil War. He relinquished his commission when elected MP forCheshire in 1646, a seat he retained throughout theProtectorate.

Suspected of involvement in the 1655Penruddock uprising to restoreCharles II of England, in 1659 he led another attempt known asBooth's Uprising. Intended as part of a larger conspiracy, it was quickly defeated, but Booth escaped punishment and was rewarded with a peerage after the 1660Stuart Restoration. However, concerns over reforms to theChurch of England and use of theRoyal Prerogative led him into opposition, and during the 1679 to 1681Exclusion Crisis, he supported barring the CatholicJames from the throne. He died in August 1684 and was succeeded by his sonHenry, who briefly served asChancellor of the Exchequer after the 1688Glorious Revolution.

George Booth was the son of Sir William Booth ofDunham Massey and Margaret Assheton. Sir William Booth was the son andheir apparent toSir George Booth, 1st Baronet (1566–1652), of the ancient family settled at Dunham Massey inCheshire, by his wife Vere Egerton, daughter and co-heir ofSirThomas Egerton. He took an active part in the Civil War alongside his grandfather, Sir George Booth, on the Parliamentarians' side. He was returned to theLong Parliament asMember of Parliament forCheshire in 1645.^[1]

George Booth was nominated to theBarebones Parliament forCheshire in 1653 and was electedMP for Cheshire in theFirst Protectorate Parliament in 1654 and in theSecond Protectorate Parliament in 1656.^[1] In 1655 he was appointed militarycommissioner for Cheshire andtreasurer 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 ofRichard Cromwell in 1659.^[2]

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

An uprising^[3] was arranged for 5 August 1659 in several districts, and Booth received a commission from Charles II to assume command of the revolutionary forces in Lancashire, Cheshire, and North Wales.^[4]

After gaining control ofChester on the 19 August, 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 towardsYork. The plot, however, was known toJohn Thurloe. Having been foiled in other parts of the country,Lambert's advancing forces defeated Booth's men at theBattle of Winnington Bridge nearNorthwich.^[2][5][6] Booth himself escaped disguised as a woman, but was discovered atNewport Pagnell on the 23 August whilst having a shave, and was imprisoned in theTower of London.^[2]

Estate of Sir George Booth Act 1660
Act of Parliament
Parliament of England
Long title	An Act for enabling of Sir George Booth Baronet to make Leases and Sales of Part of his Estate.
Citation	12 Cha. 2. c.14
Dates
Royal assent	13 September 1660

However, Booth was soon liberated and returned to his seat in theConvention Parliament in 1660.^[1] He was one of the twelve members deputed to carry the message of theHouse of Commons toCharles II atThe 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 thecoronation, he was createdBaron Delamer, with a licence to nominate six newknights. The same year he was appointedCustos 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 atBowdon Church.^[2]

Booth's first marriage was to Lady Catherine Clinton, daughter and co-heir ofTheophilus Clinton, 4th Earl of Lincoln, with whom he had one daughter, Vera Booth. After the death of his first wife, he married Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter ofHenry 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, which includedDunham Massey Hall andStaley Hall. Henry later becameEarl of Warrington. Although this earldom became extinct on the death of the2nd Earl in 1758, the BoothBarony of Delamer carried on another generation, only becoming extinct upon the4th Baron's death in 1770. The Booths' even olderbaronetcy title then devolved upon a distant cousin, theRevSir George Booth,Rector ofAshton-under-Lyne, although the family's representation in theHouse of Lords had ceased. The Delamer title was later recreated (asDelamere) in 1821 for theCholmondeley family, kinsmen of theMarquesses of Cholmondeley and theCholmeley baronets.^[2]

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

• Helms, M. W.; Hampson, Gillian; Henning, Basil Duke (1983)."Booth, Sir George, 2nd Bt. (1622–84), of Dunham Massey, Cheshire.". In Henning, Basil Duke (ed.).The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690. Boydell and Brewer.
• Kelsey, Sean (January 2006) [2004]. "Booth, George, first Baron Delamer (1622–1684)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2877. (Subscription orUK public library membership required.)
• Ormerod, George (1819).The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester. Vol. 2. Lackington. p. 111.
• Young, Peter (1973).The English Civil War armies. Issue 14 of Men-at-arms series (illustrated, reprint ed.). Osprey Publishing.ISBN 0-85045-119-1.

Attribution:

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Delamere, George Booth, 1st Baron".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 943.

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