Author: Boothby, Brooke
Biography:
BOOTHBY, Brooke (1744-1824: ODNB)
Born at Ashbourne Hall, Derbyshire, on 3 June 1744 he was the eldest son of Sir Brooke Boothby and Phoeby (Hollins) Boothby. He was baptised at St. Oswald's, Ashbourne, on 6 July 1744. He attended the free school at Stafford after the family moved there in 1752 (his mother was born in Staffordshire), and was admitted on 19 June 1761 to St John’s College, Cambridge, although he did not take a degree. After a stint in the army, he retired on half-pay to Lichfield where he was part of the literary circle that included Anna Seward. During extensive travels in Europe he became a close friend of Rousseau. His marriage to Susanna Bristow at St. George's, Hanover Square, London on 15 July 1784 produced a daughter, Penelope (11 Apr. 1785-13 Mar. 1791). Penelope is the subject of Henry Fuseli's "The Apotheosis of Penelope Boothby" and her memorial in St. Oswald's is the work of the neo-classical sculptor Thomas Banks. Boothby's one book of original verse was prompted by his daughter's death. The couple’s grief caused their irreconcilable separation, and Boothby spent the rest of his life travelling and writing before dying at Boulogne, France, on 23 Jan. 1824. His body was returned to England for burial at St. Oswald's on 13 Feb. 1824. Boothby had succeeded to the baronetcy on 9 Apr. 1789 after the death of his father. His other works include A Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Observations on the Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs, and translations of Racine and Aesop. Likely he was the translator of the Misanthrope (1819). ODNB 22 May 2018; ancestry.co.uk 23 Jan. 2025; ACAD) SR