With energy and drive, Felix expanded the business by building a second distillery at Brentford on the River Thames just six miles from Hyde Park Corner and purchasing the neighbouring brewery of Hazard and Company, which he renamed as the Red Lion Brewery. By establishing a distillery at Edinburgh in Scotland, Felix Booth could then boast that he was the owner of the biggest distilling business in Great Britain. In 1828, now aged 48, he was elected a Sheriff of the City of London and of the County of Middlesex. Felix had now accumulated considerable wealth and decided to use his money to privately fund a voyage of exploration to the Arctic Seas, financing Captain Ross and his twenty two companions, equipped with stores and supplies to last several years, on a voyage on the paddle-steamer "Victory". They departed from Woolwich Reach on 23 May 1829 and returned to Hull, Yorkshire on 18 October 1833, having survived many exploratory experiences. Whilst Captain Ross had failed to open up a North-West passage, he had dramatically narrowed the field for future expeditions by mapping an area of over half-million square miles. For Felix Booth's financial contribution to such an effort, he was knighted by the King and created a baronet "as a reward for his patriotism in fitting out at his sole cost an expedition in the endeavour to discover a North-West Passage".