BOOTH, BARTON, son of John Booth, Lancashire, a relative of the Earl of Warrington; b. 1681; at school 1689-98 (Memoirs of the life of Barton Booth, 1733); while at Westminster he is said to have shown “a very promising genius for the stage”, acting in a school performance of a tragedy by Seneca in 1693 and playing the part of Pamphilus in the Andrea, 1695; although intended for the church, he became an actor and made his first public appearance at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, as Oroonoko in Jun 1698; played secondary parts at the theatre in Lincoln’s Inn Fields 1700-4; accompanied Betterton to the new theatre in the Haymarket, 1705, and in 1708 appeared at Drury Lane; his performance as Cato on 14 May 1713 established his reputation as a great tragic actor; became manager at Drury Lane; his acting career was interrupted by a serious illness in 1727; he returned to the stage 19 Dec 1727 but was compelled by ill-health to retire in the following year; Barton Street and Cowley Street, Westminster, were built by him early in the eighteenth century on the site of the Great Ostery Garden, of which he had obtained a lease; he wrote some poems, and was the author of The Death of Dido, a Masque, 1716; m. 1st, 25 May 1704 Frances, second dau. of Sir William Barkham, Bart.; m. 2nd, 3 Aug 1719 (IGI) Hester Santlow, a dancer; d. 10 May 1733; monument in Poets’ Corner of the Abbey. DNB.
