William Booth (forger) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids William Booth
Pencil sketch of Booth, artist unknown
Born	Hall End Farm near Beaudesert, Warwickshire, England
Died	(1812-08-15)15 August 1812 Staffordshire
Resting place	St Mary's Church, Handsworth
Nationality	English
Occupation	Farmer
Conviction(s)	Forgery
Criminal penalty	Death by hanging

William Booth (1776–1812) was an English farmer and forger, who was hanged for his crimes. He is the subject of the song "Twice Tried, Twice Hung, Twice Buried" by Jon Raven and a book. Several geographical features in Birmingham, near his former home, carry his name.

Early life

Booth was born at Hall End Farm near Beaudesert, Warwickshire and was baptised at the church there on 21 February 1776. He was one of eight children of a farmer and church warden, John Booth, and his wife Mary.

On 28 February 1799, Booth signed a 25-year lease for what became known (by 1821 if not earlier) as "Booth's Farm", including a farmhouse and 200 acres of land, part of the Perry Hall estate. The farm was then in Perry Barr, Staffordshire; that part of Perry Barr is now known as Great Barr, and is in the city of Birmingham.

Booth, then descried as a yeoman, was accused of murdering his brother John while revisiting Hall End on 19 February 1808, but was acquitted for lack of evidence.

Co-conspirators

Booth's accomplices were tried alongside him and those convicted were sentenced to transportation to Australia.

Elizabeth Chidlow (or Chedlow) was sentenced to 14 years, departing in August 1813 on the Wanstead.

and received £5 from them as it was their charitable custom to support women sentenced to transportation for forgery. She arrived at Port Jackson (now Sydney), New South Wales on 9 January 1814.

George Scot and John Yates Snr., were each sentenced to be transported for seven years. All the other defendants were acquitted. Booth's wife, who witnesses said was active in the process of making forgeries, was not charged, as wives were considered to be under the control of their husbands.

Booth's Farm

Booth's Farm farmhouse ruins, seen in July 2020. The part nearest to the camera was the entrance porch.

The farmhouse was demolished in 1974, much of the farm – still known as Booth's Farm – having been sold off for housing. An archaeological excavation was conducted at that time. As late as October 1956, 45 bank tokens forged by Booth, using metal alloy instead of silver, were found in a garden on Foden Road, formerly part of the farm.

What remained of the farm became a sand and gravel quarry (the site is on Bunter Pebble Beds), and later a landfill site and eventually a nature reserve, with additional housing built in the 2010s. During the latter period, the buried foundations of the farmhouse were re-exposed and an information board placed alongside them.

Namesakes

'Booths Farm Rd' street name plate, showing the "B42" postal code

Fingerpost at Queslett Nature Reserve, on the site of Booth's Farm, pointing along a footpath, Booth's Farm Way, to Booth's Lane

Booth and his farm gave their name to the still-extant Booths Lane and Booths Farm Road, now separated from each other by the M6 motorway which bisected the former farm when it opened circa 1972. In the 21st century, Forgers Walk —the pedestrian tunnel under the motorway—and later Booths Farm Walk, Booths Farm Close, Forger Lane, and Token Rise, all nearby, were so named.

Until the late 1920s, the farm was occupied by the Foden Family, commemorated in Foden Road.

The area around Booths Farm Road is known as the Booths Farm Estate.