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 founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

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

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. 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 (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

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

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

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 who showed at the

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

. 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 (London 1845–1922 London) 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 r ...

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 in ...

(1767–1849), known as an artist, married Richard Ford the barrister, and was mother of Richard Ford the writer. Another daughter, Elizabeth Mary, was a pupil of John Opie, 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 Thomas Hastings may refer to: *Thomas Hastings (colonist) (1605–1685), English immigrant to New England *Thomas Hastings (composer) (1784–1872), American composer, primarily of hymn tunes *Thomas Hastings (cricketer) (1865–1938), Australian cr ...

Notes

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