Benjamin Booth (1732–1806) was an English director of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

and art collector. He was the fourth son of John Booth of London and his wife Anne Lloyd of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, in 1772.

Family and art collection

Booth married Jane Salwey, daughter of Richard Salwey of Moor Park,

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

and an heiress, in 1760. They had a son Richard Salwey Booth, who matriculated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

in 1781 and became a clergyman, and three daughters. The son was an amateur artist, painting watercolours in Wales and Scotland, and an acquaintance of

Paul Sandby Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 November 1809) was an English map-maker turned Landscape art, landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas Sandby, Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 17 ...

who showed at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. He is identified by

William Prideaux Courtney William Prideaux Courtney (1845–1913) was a British biographer and civil servant. Writing as W. P. C., he was a contributor to the first edition of the ''Dictionary of National Biography''. He was the brother of Leonard Courtney, 1st Baron Cour ...

as a companion in 1797 of Lord Webb John Seymour and Christopher Smyth; and as in the

Algernon Graves Algernon Graves (1845–1922) was a British art historian and art dealer, who specialised in the documentation of the exhibition and sale of works of art. He created reference sources that began the modern discipline of provenance research. Ear ...

Royal Academy records from 1796 to 1807. Their daughter

Marianne Booth Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed i ...

(1767–1849), known as an artist, married

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, ''Rock Springs (short stories), Rock Springs ...

the barrister, and was mother of

the writer. Another daughter, Elizabeth Mary, was a pupil of

John Opie John Opie (16 May 1761 – 9 April 1807) was a British painter whose subjects included many prominent men and women of his day, members of the British royal family and others who were notable in the artistic and literary professions. Early ca ...

, who asked to marry her in 1797, and was refused. The third daughter was Jane. The large collection of works by Richard Wilson put together by Booth was still in the Ford family in the 20th century. Etchings of some of the works were published in an 1825 book by Thomas Hastings.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Benjamin 1732 births 1806 deaths Directors of the British East India Company English art collectors Fellows of the Royal Society