Richard Wilbraham-Bootle

Richard Wilbraham-Bootle (1725–1796) was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons for 29 years from 1761 to 1790.

Lathom House, Lancashire

Rode Hall, Cheshire - seat of the Wilbraham family

He was born Richard Wilbraham on 20 September 1725, the eldest son of Randle Wilbraham of Rode Hall, Cheshire. He matriculated at St John’s College, Oxford on 8 July 1742 and entered Lincoln's Inn in 1742. In 1747 he was called to the bar.^[1]. He married Mary Bootle, daughter and heiress of Robert Bootle of Lathom House, Lancashire on 31 May 1755 and took the additional name of Bootle on his marriage.^[2]

Wilbraham Bootle was returned as Member of Parliament for Chester without a contest in the 1761 general election and was returned unopposed again in 1768, 1774 and 1780. In 1780 the English Chronicle described him as “one of the most independent Members in the House”. He was a member of the St. Alban's Tavern group which in February 1784 tried to bring Pitt and Fox together. In the 1784 general election, he was returned with a comfortable majority the first time he had to contest his seat at Chester. He retired in 1790. Only a few speeches by him are recorded and none were of any consequence.

In 1758 he inherited Lathom House on the death of his wife's father and in 1770 inherited Rode Hall on the death of his own father. Wilbraham Bootle died on 13 March 1796, leaving 6 sons and 8 daughters. His eldest son Edward inherited Lathom House and was created Baron Skelmersdale. Rode Hall passed to his younger son, Randle Wilbraham. Anne Dorothea married Richard Pepper Arden and Mary married William Egerton.

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