George James Fitz-Robert Boothby (1861 – 26 September 1889) was a Scottish amateur golfer who played in the late 19th century. Boothby tied for third place in the

1882 Open Championship The 1882 Open Championship was the 22nd Open Championship, held 30 September at the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Bob Ferguson won the Championship for the third successive time, by three strokes from Willie Fernie. Ferguson led ...

Early life

Boothby was born in 1861 in Scotland, the son of Robert Tod Boothby. His younger brother was

Robert Tuite Boothby Sir Robert Tuite Boothby Order of the British Empire, KBE (29 June 1871 – 7 February 1941) was a British banker. Career He was born in St Andrews in Fife, the son of Col Robert Tod Boothby of the Royal Artillery, and his wife Madeline Condie. ...

, the father of Baron Boothby. His sister Edith Cunningham Boothby was the second wife of

Walter Cunliffe, 1st Baron Cunliffe Walter Cunliffe, 1st Baron Cunliffe, GBE (3 December 1855 – 6 January 1920) was a British banker who established the merchant banking business of Cunliffe Brothers (after 1920, Goschens and Cunliffe) in London, and who was Governor of the Ban ...

. His father played in the 1876 Open Championship while his brother Robert played a number of times from 1885 to 1900. He had a son, Eric FitzGeorge Boothby (1887–1919), who played four times in the

Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

between 1907 and 1914.

Golf career

1882 Open Championship

The

was held 30 September at the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Boothby shot rounds of 86-89=175 and finished in third place. Scottish professional Bob Ferguson won the Championship for the third successive time, by three strokes from Willie Fernie.

Details of play

Ferguson led after the morning round with an 83. Going out in 40 he started back 4-3-4 and with some steady play came back in 43, despite a six at the 16th. Boothby, a local amateur, scored 86 despite a couple of sevens in the closing holes. He shared second place with Jack Kirkaldy with Jamie Anderson and Tom Kidd on 87. Boothby scored 89 in the second round and took an early lead on 175. Anderson and Bob Martin, playing together, each had good rounds and they also both finished on 175. Ferguson again played steadily, going out in 42. Starting home he continued to score well and, despite a few sixes on his card, he avoided major disasters and finished with an 88 and a total of 171. The best of the later starters was Fernie. Despite starting with a six he was out in 40 and finished in 86 for a total of 174, good enough for second place. Ferguson's win was his third in succession, once on each of the Championship courses, matching the achievement of Anderson from 1877 to 1879. His £12 first prize was a record for the Open at that time.

Australia

Boothby married Mary McCrea at

St Peter's, Eastern Hill St Peter's, Eastern Hill is the Anglican parish church of the City of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The parish is in the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne and dates from 1847. The letters patent of Queen Victoria declaring the city status of Mel ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1884. He had come to Australia in 1884 and later joined the Victorian Artillery as a lieutenant in April 1885 and was promoted to captain in July 1889.

Death

Boothby died on 26 September 1889 in

Queenscliff, Victoria Queenscliff is a small town on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, Australia, south of Swan Bay at the entrance to Port Phillip. It is the administrative centre for the Borough of Queenscliffe. At the , Queenscliff had a population o ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He died of acute inflammation of the lungs. Mary Boothby was also seriously ill at the time of Boothby's death but recovered and died in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

on 20 June 1933.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boothby, Fitz Scottish male golfers Amateur golfers 1861 births 1889 deaths