Sir Alfred Allen Booth, 1st Baronet (17 September 1872 – 13 March 1948) was a British businessman and

shipowner A shipowner, ship owner or ship-owner is the owner of a ship. They can be merchant vessels involved in the shipping industry or non commercially owned. In the commercial sense of the term, a shipowner is someone who equips and exploits a ship, us ...

. A scion of the Booths of

Dunham Massey Dunham Massey is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford, Greater Manchester, England. The parish includes the villages of Sinderland Green, Dunham Woodhouses and Dunham Town, along with Dunham Massey Hall and Park, formerly th ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, his great-grandfather moved to

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 ...

in the mid-18th century. Booth was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in 1916 by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

H. H. Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. He was the last ...

for supporting Britain's

war effort War effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and civilian—towards the support of a military force, particular during a state of war. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

and services to industry.

Biography

Early life

Born on 17 September 1872, the son of Alfred Booth and Lydia Allen Butler. His maternal grandfather was

Benjamin Franklin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler was a ...

(1795 – 8 November 1858), who served as the 12th Attorney General of the United States from 1833 to 1838.''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage'', 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 427 Booth was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, before going up to

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he graduated as

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

Career

Booth served on the board of directors of the

Cunard Steamship Company The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival Corporation & plc#Carnival UK, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, ...

(now a subsidiary of

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British and American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over ninety vessels across eight cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of the Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carnival ...

) and the

Alfred Booth and Company Alfred Booth and Company was a British trading and shipping company, founded in 1866 and traded for more than a century. It was founded in Liverpool, England, by two brothers, Alfred and Charles Booth to export English light leather to the US ...

. On 24 January 1916 he was honoured with a

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, under the territorial designation of Allerton Beeches, City of Liverpool. Sir Alfred received the

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from

Liverpool University The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the de ...

Personal life

On 15 December 1903 Booth married firstly Mary Blake Dwight. On 9 November 1925 he married secondly Margaret Lucy Brightwen. They had two sons, Sir Philip Booth, 2nd Baronet, (1907–1960) and Major Edmund Booth (1908–1985) and one daughter, Sylvia Emily Booth (1905–1968). Sir Alfred died on 13 March 1948. He was a cousin of fellow shipping magnate Paul Crompton, who, along with his wife and children, died in the sinking of the RMS ''Lusitania'' in 1915.www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
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References

External links