HENRY GOUGH BOOTH

(1811-1871), Born in Cranbrook, Kent County, England, into a family with ten siblings. Henry was apprenticed by his father at an early age to a local coppersmith. His father signed apprentice papers with Fennimore, a coppersmith with a shop on Stone Street in Cranbrook. Here young Henry learned his master’s trade. Following his apprenticeship and the death of his first wife Harriet Wood, the daughter of a local brewer, Henry relocated his young family of three children to London where he and Ralph Harman were employed as journeymen coppersmiths by the large, established firm of Kepps in Covent Garden. Following several years of working for Kepps and after remarrying to the sister of his friend and co-worker Ralph Harman, both Henry and Ralph Harman having completed their journeyman training, decided to become their own masters and emigrated to North America in 1844. In search of a proper place to establish themselves as self-employed master coppersmiths, first they traveled to Cincinnati, then Buffalo where Henry and possibly Ralph worked at Stephen Dudley and Sons making coffee urns and kitchen equipment for lake steamers. After a short time they ended up in Toronto, Ontario, where they were finally able to realize their dream of self-employment.

Henry Gough Booth in Toronto, Ontario, founded BOOTH AND SONS COPPER>>>>>>> Booth, Coulter Copper and Brass>>>> Coulter Copper and Brass. George Booth, the #2 son of Henry Gough Booth, succeeds his father and successfully manages the business. George helps found the Toronto based Canadian National Exposition’s industrial section.

Henry Gough Booth, a Baptist, marries Harriet Wood, an Anglican, with whom he had three children: 1)Henry Gough Booth (Jr.) ( 1837-1925) who later changed his name to Henry Wood Booth to honor his deceased mother, 2) George Booth (1838-1919), and 3) Anne Booth (1840-1934). Following the death of his first wife in1841, Henry Gough Booth married Harriot Harman in1844. She was the sister of his good friend, colleague, and business partner Ralph Harman. Ralph Harman married Henry Gough Booth’s sister Suzanna Booth. These two families, the Henry Gough Booth’s and the Ralph (Booth) Harman’s, in same year, 1844, emigrated together sailing from the St. Catherine’s docks in London, settling first in Cincinnati, Ohio, for a brief time, then relocating to Buffalo, New York, and finally moving to Toronto Canada, where the Booth children are schooled. Henry Gough Booth, Harriot Harman Booth, Ralph Harman and Suzanna Booth Harman are buried in adjacent graves very near the west side of the entrance gate lodge (designed by Henry Langley, Henry Gough Booth’s son-in-law) to the Toronto Necropolis Cemetery.

NOTE: Suzanna Booth Harman, born in Cranbrook, Kent, in 1805, died in May, 1907, at the age of 102!

In THE CRANBROOK BOOTH FAMILY OF AMERICA on pg. 8, is stated that both Henry Gough Booth and Ralph Harman were employed by Kepps a large metal smith firm in Covent Garden, London, where they “produced material for Buckingham Palace and other great houses and helped to construct the great copper orb atop the spire on the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. In Buffalo, New York, they worked at Stephen Dudley and Sons, manufacturers of forges and washing machines, brewery and distillery apparatus.” (NOTE: the Booth and Harman families stay in Cincinnati was cut short due mainly because of the city’s residual ill will towards the British following the War of 1812 which had been fiercely contested in this area. This anti-British sentiment made employment very difficult.)

Henry Gough Booth established his own coppersmith manufactory in Toronto, first as Booth and Son, then Booth and Booth, then Booth Copper Company, then Booth Coulter Copper and Brass Co. and finally Coulter Copper and Brass, Ltd. Henry Wood Booth and his brother George apprenticed as coppersmiths with their father. Henry Wood Booth left the firm thereafter brother George succeeded his father as President.

In THE CRANBROOK BOOTH FAMILY OF AMERICA (the Family Book) it is noted that Henry Gough Booth was a very religious man. The Booth Family in Cranbrook belonged to a large community of old school Baptists. They worshipped in the Providence Chapel, a wooden clapboard Baptist meeting house in Cranbrook, the town having a large community of Baptists. Henry Gough Booth’s sect of Baptists were high and uncompromising Calvinists believing that Christ died only for the Elect and firmly believing themselves to be amongst the Elect. The irony is that one of the beliefs of these Calvinists was that alcohol was a sin, but Henry Gough Booth’s success in the copper manufacturing business was based on supplying the leading brewers and grain spirits Canadian companies with copper brewing vats and distillery equipment, eg. Molson’s, Labatt’s and Hiram Walker in Windsor, Canada, makers of Canadian Club, rye whiskey. Upon confederation of the British North American provinces into the Dominion of Canada, July 1, 1867, the new government decreed that alcohol legally sold in Canada had to be produced in Canadian licensed distilleries and breweries in Canadian stills and vats. These laws directly benefited Booth Copper.

NOTE: The family papers and correspondence in the family archives at the Cranbrook Educational Community contain information to support the opinion that Henry Gough Booth probably had a drinking problem. This may have been a major source of the resentment expressed by his son Henry Wood Booth. It may also have been both a cause and consequence of his frequent uprooting and relocating of his family.

Henry Gough Booth in the Family Book is described as having been a first class mechanic and a true artisan tradesman. He was not a particularly good businessman. All the money he ever made, he was proud to say, was by his own hand.

COMMENT: Much will be written about the commercial success of a number of clan members in this “cast of characters”. Indeed, quite a few became very wealthy and most of the family descendants lived and continue to live comfortable lives. While some may see this as the blessing of commercial acumen or opportunities by way of inheritance, the core of the family success appears to this member to be based more on a sense of purpose based on education, curiosity, a sense of self worth and place in their society, a desire to be the best at whatever their chosen endeavor, and a calling to contribute something of importance and beauty to their community. These seem to me to be the qualities that repeat from generation to generation.