Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent

Who was Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent?

Jesse Boot, 1st Baron Trent transformed The Boots Company, founded by his father, John Boot, into a national retailer, which branded itself as "Chemists to the Nation", before he sold his controlling interest to American investors in 1920.

John Boot offered his close friend and business associate John Harston the opportunity of going into business with him, but Harston declined, feeling the venture was not worth investing in.

Boot was a great benefactor to the City of Nottingham. He donated land for the new University College at Highfields, now the University of Nottingham, which opened in 1928 and was presented with the Freedom of the City of Nottingham in 1920. He was also a significant benefactor to his wife's home, Jersey.

Boot was knighted in 1909, created a baronet in 1917, and in the New Year's Honours of 1929 was elevated to the peerage as Baron Trent, of Nottingham in the County of Nottingham. These latter honours probably owed as much to his solid support of the Liberal Party as to his philanthropy to the city of his birth.

He died in Jersey in 1931. The Sir Jesse Boot Chair in Chemistry at the University of Nottingham was named in his honour. His widow commissioned the French glass artist René Lalique to refit the church of St Matthew, Millbrook as a memorial to him.