Name Henry Booth | Role Engineer | |
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Died 1869, Liverpool, United Kingdom Books An account of the Liverpool and Manchester railway | ||
Henry Booth (4 April 1788 – 28 March 1869) was born in Rodney Street, Liverpool, England. A descendant of the Booths of Twemlow, he was a corn merchant, businessman and engineer.
During 1825 Booth was a vigorous proponent of the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company (L&M). At the first general meeting of the railway's shareholders on 29 May 1826, he was appointed to be one of the L&M's twelve initial directors. Next day the directors appointed him as company secretary and treasurer—equivalent to the post of chief executive officer—at a salary of £500 a year. He continued to competently fill those important posts until 1846. Booth was a leading proponent of working all British railways to one standard time.
On the formation of the London & North Western Railway (LNWR) on 16 July 1846, he became a director of the new large company, serving until 1859. He was also the LNWR's first secretary between 1846 and 1848.
Booth proposed the basic design of the first multi-tubular boiler, invented by Marc Seguin, used on Stephenson's Rocket steam locomotive built in late 1829 for the L&M Railway.