Sir Alfred Allen Booth, 1st Baronet (17 September 1872 – 13 March 1948) was a British businessman and shipowner. A scion of the Booths of Dunham Massey, Cheshire, his great-grandfather moved to Liverpool in the mid-18th century.

Alfred Booth
Sir Alfred Booth with his daughter Sylvia
Born(1872-09-17)17 September 1872
Died(1948-03-13)13 March 1948
Alma materKing's College, Cambridge
OccupationShipowner
Spouses
  • 1 Mary Blake Dwight
  • 2 Margaret Lucy Brightwen
Parent(s)Alfred Booth
Lydia Allen Butler
Insignia of a UK baronet

Booth was created a baronet in 1916 by Prime Minister H. H. Asquith for supporting Britain's war effort and services to industry.

Booth family coat of arms

Biography edit

Early life edit

Born on 17 September 1872, the son of Alfred Booth and Lydia Allen Butler.[1] His maternal grandfather was Benjamin Franklin Butler (1795 – 8 November 1858), who served as the 12th Attorney General of the United States from 1833 to 1838.[2]

Booth was educated at Harrow School, before going up to King's College, Cambridge, where he graduated as Master of Arts.[2][1]

Career edit

Booth served on the board of directors of the Cunard Steamship Company (now a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc) and the Alfred Booth and Company. On 24 January 1916 he was honoured with a baronetcy, under the territorial designation of Allerton Beeches, City of Liverpool.[3][2][4]

Sir Alfred received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from Liverpool University.[2]

Personal life edit

On 15 December 1903 Booth married firstly Mary Blake Dwight. On 9 November 1925 he married secondly Margaret Lucy Brightwen.[1] They had two sons, Sir Philip Booth, 2nd Baronet, (1907–1960) and Major Edmund Booth (1908–1985) and one daughter, Sylvia Emily Booth (1905–1968). Sir Alfred died on 13 March 1948.[2]

He was a cousin of fellow shipping magnate Paul Crompton, who, along with his wife and children, died in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915.[5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Booth, Sir Alfred (Allen), (17 Sept. 1872–13 March 1948), sometime Chairman of Cunard Steamship Ltd; Director of Alfred Booth & Co., Ltd". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u222812. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 427
  3. ^ "No. 29483". The London Gazette. 22 February 1916. p. 1946.
  4. ^ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage: With Her Majesty's Royal Warrant Holders, Debrett's, 1990, p. 103 [1]
  5. ^ www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk

External links edit

Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baronet
(of Allerton Beeches)
1916–1948
Succeeded by