Robert Bootle FRS ( – 7 May 1758) was an English ship's captain in the service 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 ...

who was elected four times to serve as a director of the company.

Early life

Lathom House from Morris's Country Seats 1880 edited

He was born at

Lathom House Lathom House was a large country house in the parish of Lathom in Lancashire, England. Built between 1725 and 1740, the main block was demolished in 1925. Early history A wooden castle is believed to have stood on the site in mediaeval times. ...

in Lancashire, a younger son of Robert Bootle of

Maghull Maghull ( ) is a town and civil parish in Sefton, Merseyside (historically a part of Lancashire). The town is north of Liverpool and west of Kirkby. The area also contains Ashworth Hospital. Maghull had a population of 20,444 at the 2011 Cens ...

. His elder brother was Sir

Thomas Bootle Sir Thomas Bootle (bapt. 16 May 1685 – 25 December 1753) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of Robert Bootle of Maghull, Lancashire and studied law at Lincoln's Inn (1708) and the Inner Temple (1712) and w ...

, MP for

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 ...

Career

He was the commander of the ''London''

Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India Company (disambiguation), East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries ...

on five voyages to the East between 1723 and 1739. Apart from the ''London'' he had a financial interest in the ''Suffolk''. He was a director of the East India Company in 1741–44, 1746–49, 1752–53, and 1755. He was elected a

fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1757. His application citation described him as " a gentleman well versed in Mathematical learning, & several other branches of polite literature".

Personal life

George Romney (1734-1802) - Mary Bootle (d

In 1732, Bootle married Anne Tooke, a daughter of Edmund Tooke of London. She was a favorite cousin of John Loveday of Caversham. Together, they were the parents of one daughter: * Mary Bootle (1734–1813), who married

Richard Wilbraham General Sir Richard Wilbraham (12 April 1811 – 30 April 1900) was a British Army officer who became colonel of the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). Early life He was a son of Randle Bootle-Wilbraham (1773–1861) of Rode Hall and, h ...

, MP for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

(upon their marriage, he assumed the surname Wilbraham-Bootle. He lived in Hatton Garden, London before inheriting Lathom House in 1753 on the death of his unmarried elder brother,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

. On his own death in 1758 it passed to his daughter and sole heir, Mary.G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14'' (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Alan Sutton Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

, 2000), volume I, page 119.

Descendants

Through his daughter, he was a grandfather of at least six grandsons and eight granddaughters, including

Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale (7 March 1771 – 3 April 1853), was a British landowner and politician. Life Bootle-Wilbraham was the son of Richard Wilbraham-Bootle and his wife Mary, daughter of Robert Bootle. He inherited La ...

who inherited Lathom House.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bootle, Robert 1758 deaths Sailors from Lancashire Fellows of the Royal Society Directors of the British East India Company Year of birth uncertain People from Lathom

Early life

Career

Personal life

Descendants

See also

References