Luke Booker

Rev. Luke Booker (20 October 1762 – 1 October 1835) LL.D., FRLS was an English Anglican clergyman, poet and antiquary, with a long list of published sermons and poetry. As a cleric he was strongly linked with the town of Dudley, then an exclave of Worcestershire.

Early years Booker was born in Nottingham, England.

Career Shortly after his ordination, Booker became a lecturer at St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, after which he became a curate at Oldswinford. Then for many years he served as vicar of Church of St. Edmund in Dudley. In 1806, he became rector of Tedstone Delamere, after an introduction by his brother-in-law, Richard Blakemore. He returned to Dudley in 1812 through his association with William Lord Viscount Dudley and Ward.

Booker laid the cornerstone for Dudley's St Thomas Church on 25 October 1816. He remained at Dudley until shortly before his death, having preached 173 sermons.

A charity preacher and an early contributor to the Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, Booker was a prolific publisher of poems and sermons, and at least one play. and a philanthropist. Booker also served as Justice of the Peace for the counties of Worcester, Hereford, and Stafford.

Personal life Booker married four times. and became MP for Herefordshire. The daughter was Harriet-Esther Booker.

Booker died at Bower Ashton, England on 1 October 1835.

Selected works The Highlanders, a poem, 1778 Poems on subjects sacred, moral, and entertaining, 2 vols, 1785 A Sermon, preached in the parish church of old Swinford, Worcestershire, 1788 Miscellaneous Poems, 1789 A Sermon, preached at St. Edmund's church, in Dudley; and published for the purpose of erecting a monument, 1791 Britain's Happiness; an assize sermon ... exhibiting an historical review of providential interpositions in favour of the British Empire, 1792 A Sermon preached in the parish church of St. Thomas; at Dudley ... and an address to the common people, &c. on the subject of riots, 1793 Sermons on various subjects, 1793 Malvern, a descriptive and historical poem, 1798 The Hop-Garden, a didactic poem, 1799 A Discourse, (addressed chiefly to parents) on the duty and advantages of inoculating children, 1802 Calista; or, a picture of modern life, 1803 Poems, 1803 Tobias, a poem, 1805 A Moral Review of the Conduct and Case of Mary Ashford, in refutation of the arguments adduced in defence of her supposed violator and murderer, 1818 The Foundations of a Kingdom Endangered by Iniquity, and its ruin prevented by righteousness, 1820 Euthanasia; or, the state of man after death, 1822 A Descriptive and Historical Account of Dudley Castle, and its surrounding scenery; with graphic illustrations, 1825 Tributes to the Dead, consisting of ... epitaphs, 1830 The Champion of Cyrus: a drama, 1831 The Springs of Plynlimmon: a poem, 1834