Sir William Booth ('' fl''. 1673–1689), captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, was promoted to that rank in June 1673.

Later military career

After the peace with the Dutch he was for several years employed in the Mediterranean, and more especially against the Algerine pirates. On 8 April 1681, whilst in command of , he engaged one of these corsairs named the ''Golden Horse'', a vessel larger, more heavily armed, and with a more numerous ship's company, The fight was long and bloody; both ships were much shattered, but neither could claim the victory, when a stranger came in sight under Turkish colours. She proved, however, to be the English ship , commanded by Captain

Francis Wheler Sir Francis Wheler (sometimes spelt Wheeler) (1656 – 19 February 1694) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the Nine Years' War. Wheler spent the early part of his career in the Mediterranean, eventually being promoted to comm ...

, and to her the ''Golden Horse'' at once submitted without further resistance. A somewhat acrimonious dispute afterwards arose between the others and men of the two ships as to their relative share in the capture, which also involved

John Benbow Vice-Admiral John Benbow (10 March 16534 November 1702) was an English officer in the Royal Navy. He joined the navy aged 25 years, seeing action against Algerian pirates before leaving and joining the merchant navy where he traded until the ...

, Captain Wheler assuming all the honour to himself, and claiming the whole profit of the prize. The question was referred by Booth to the admiralty, who, without any evidence beyond Booth's partial statement, directed the commander-in-chief to "cause the colours of the Golden Horse to be delivered to Captain Booth as a mark of honour which we Judge he hath well deserved", and also an appointed share of the value of the prize.

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''Addl. manuscript'' 19872, f. 67 In 1683 he commanded ; in September 1688 he was appointed to the 70-gun ; and in the following February, having given in his allegiance to King

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, he was knighted and appointed Commissioner of the Navy. It would appear that his profession of allegiance was but a blind to enable him the better to act as agent to the exiled

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

; for on 16 March he went down the river to the ''Pendennis'', then lying at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...

, and endeavoured by his personal influence and promises of money to persuade the lieutenants to agree with him in carrying over the ship to France; the plot also involved carrying over the

fireship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

, commanded by Captain Wilford, who seemed to acquiesce. But Wilford got too drunk to act the part designed for him, and the lieutenants refused to have anything to do with it, or to let the ''Pendennis'' go; on which Booth, conceiving that he had gone too far, and that the affair could not be kept secret, fled to France. No account remains of his further life or of his death. Charnock's Biography. Nav. i. 387Minutes of Court-martial on Captain Robert Wilford. 30 July 1689, in

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

References

DNB references

These references are found in the DNB article referred to above.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Sir William Year of birth missing Year of death missing Place of birth unknown Royal Navy officers 1680s conflicts 17th-century Royal Navy personnel