The second Booth Hodgetts led the life of a gentleman while his elder brother continued in business. Young Booth moved to Kent. We don’t know what took him there, but Tonbridge Wells was a fashionable watering place. It’s possible he was consumptive and sought the curative powers of the waters, or he may just have followed fashion. Either way, he decided to stay in the area.

In 1813 Booth II leased North Frith Farm at Hadlow—the most expensive property in a valley of acclaimed beauty. Deer parks there had been owned by Henry VIII and used as a “royal reward” throughout the ages. Even today its landscape, with stretches of ancient woodland, remains largely unchanged. In Booth’s time, North Frith Farm consisted of 357 acres of rich arable meadow, wood and hop ground, and was attractive to sportsmen as it was abundant in deer, pheasants, hares, and partridges. In 1816 Booth married Elizabeth Hope at nearby Westerham.

It sounds rather idyllic. However, residing in the playground of kings, Booth and Elizabeth lived beyond their means. In fact, where his father had a talent for making money, young Booth’s talent lay in spending it. It was likely his inability to pay the rent on North Frith Farm that caused his move to a farm at nearby Groombridge in 1817. He and Elizabeth lived there for three years and welcomed two children. Money troubles then caused them to sell all their possessions including furniture, carpets, bedding, an elegant dinner service, a set of mahogany dining tables, mirrors, a thirty-hour clock, the kitchen range and farm implements etc.

Booth had somehow managed to run through money equivalent to a sizable estate and his father advanced him the bulk of his inheritance to dig him out of trouble. Booth’s next son was named “Booth”, probably in gratitude.

There seems to have been a general recognition among his relations that Booth had to be protected from himself. When his younger brother William died in 1822, Booth was the sole beneficiary, but the money was held in trust by their eldest brother who paid Booth the income each year.

Meanwhile, it seems Elizabeth’s father had also been tapped for money as he wrote a will specifying that his wife was not to be “accountable or subject to the control or intermeddling” of her daughters or their husbands.

Three years later Booth II relocated his family once more, this time to Brasted where his next son was born and named “William”. Undoubtedly, they had again run into debt as Booth senior altered his will, specifying that Booth’s remaining legacy would be held in trust by his elder brother. It’s possible his aunt, Mary Campion, dug Booth out of trouble this time, as the next child was named after her. When she died in 1829, she left several thousand pounds to each of her nieces and nephews but, again, Booth’s share was managed by Thomas Webb Hodgetts.

Booth and Elizabeth remained at Brasted for a couple of years but, by 1830, had relocated yet again to a farm at Charlton near Dover where they welcomed their last child—Joseph Hope Hodgetts.

Two years later, Booth II spent some time in Fleet Prison for debt. His father was no doubt horrified at the trouble he had managed to get himself into and his mortification would have been doubly keen given their distinctive shared name. Booth II was released in December 1832 and Booth I again altered his will, tying up his son’s remaining inheritance even tighter.

Booth II remained at Dover until his death in 1834; he was aged only 43 and predeceased both his parents.

His widow moved to Warwickshire, renting a property at Aston. There, she could live comfortably while her father-in-law set up her children for the future. One was bound for the law, one for medicine and one to be a surveyor. She appears to have had trouble living within her income despite having inherited her husband’s three annuities. She died at Radipole, Dorset in 1886.

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Sources & Notes

Marriage 4/11/1816 Hadlow Kent, Anc. (by banns with consent of Elizabeth’s parents)

North Frith London Courier and Evening Gazette 23/9/1817; Sussex Advertiser 27/11/1820. Beyond Highbrooms–the history of South Frith valley (Southborough), Highbrooms Society, retrieved 28/4/2021.

Advanced inheritance Will of Booth Hodgetts I, Powick Worcestershire, probate 3/6/1844.

Annuity Will of William Hodgetts, Dudley, probate 12/9/1822.

Debtors’ Prison 27/12/1832 “Booth Hodgetts the younger at the suit of Elizabeth Hodgetts Admit? of Saml Waller dece’d by warrt of (court?)”, London, England, King’s Bench and Fleet Prison Discharge Books and Prisoner Lists, 1832, Anc.

Booth death 1/11/1834 St James, Kent Eng, Anc.

Elizabeth later life Aston 1848 rates: Elizabeth a tenant on a property of 4 perches belonging to John Wilkes, Anc. Census Elizabeth: 1841 35 yo independent at Park Cresent, Aston with sons Thomas (20 yo clerk), William, Booth, and Joseph Hope; 1851 50yo at same, fund holder with 22yo Mary C and 21yo Joseph Hope; 1861 census: 63yo Elizabeth with Joseph and his wife at Cambridge; 1871 dependent on Joseph Hope, minister; 1881 Annuitant with son Thomas (retired solicitor) in Radipole, Weymouth.

Elizabeth Death 23/1/1886 Radipole, Probate Calendar, Anc.

Elizabeth Burial 27/1/1886 Radipole, Anc.