Sir John Booth


Sir John Booth, was a distinguished 17th-century Army officer, who served as military governor of Warrington during the English Civil War.

Background

Born at Dunham Massey, Cheshire, he was the fifth son of Sir George Booth, 1st Baronet and Katherine Anderson, daughter of Sir Edmund Anderson, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.
His elder surviving brother, William Booth, Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire, who succeeded to the family estates, was father of Sir George Booth, 2nd Baronet.
Adherents of the Presbyterian tradition in the Church of England, the Booths were supporters of the Whig Party in Parliament.

Military career

Commissioned into the Cheshire Militia, Booth served in the Parliamentary Army under General the Earl of Stamford during the First Civil War, being promoted Colonel. Appointed Governor of Warrington in 1645, he remained loyal during the 1648 Second English Civil War before his family switched sides following the execution of Charles I in January 1649.
During the Interregnum, Booth was active in the Royalist cause and, accused of conspiring to restore Charles II, was briefly imprisoned in the Tower of London.
An accomplished soldier, he commanded his nephew's militia during Booth's Uprising and after the Stuart Restoration in May 1660 Colonel Booth was knighted.
Sir John and Lady Booth later became seated at Woodford Hall near Over in Cheshire, after acquiring the manor of Woodford from Dr Nathan Paget, eventual heir to the Masterson family estate.

Family

Colonel Booth married firstly in 1627 Dorothy St John, daughter and heiress of the Hon. Sir Anthony St John, younger brother of Oliver St John, 1st Earl of Bolingbroke, having issue:
He married secondly, in 1659, Anne née Gobert, widow of Colonel Thomas Legh of Adlington and of Colonel Alexander Rigby of Middleton.
Colonel Sir John Booth died 9 May 1678, being buried in Chester Cathedral.