Robert Booth (priest)


Robert Booth, an aristocratic 18th-century Anglican priest, served as Archdeacon of Durham from 1691 and also as Dean of Bristol from 1708.

Early life and family

The 6th son of George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer and Lady Elizabeth Grey, eldest daughter of General the Lord Stamford, he was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating as Master of Arts, before receiving, in 1712, the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He married twice, firstly to his distant cousin Ann Booth, who bore him one son, and secondly to Mary Hales, who bore 14 children: their youngest son, Nathaniel Booth, succeeded in 1758 as the 4th and last Baron Delamer. His son Robert was MP for Bodmin.

Ministry

Booth was ordained a deacon at Oxford in 1685 by Bishop John Fell. He was appointed Rector of Satterleigh and Warkleigh in Devon, then collated Archdeacon of Durham on 15 May 1691, in October of the same year Booth was presented to a family advowson as Rector of Thornton-le-Moors in the diocese of Chester. Seventeen years later, on 20 May 1708, he was promoted Dean of Bristol and installed in the cathedral on 20 June 1708. Dr Booth held both offices until his death on 8 August 1730, aged 68, being buried at Bristol Cathedral.

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