Who was William Booth?
William Booth, born in Nottingham, England in 1829, was the founder of Salvation Army. At the age of 13 he was apprenticed in a pawnbroker’s shop to help support his mother and sisters. He did not enjoy his job but it made him aware of the poverty in which people lived and how they suffered humiliation and degradation because of it. Booth became a minister and along with his wife Catherine formed “The Christian Mission” in 1865 in Londons poverty-ridden East End. In 1867, Booth had only 10 full-time workers. By 1874, the numbers had grown to 1,000 volunteers and 42 evangelists. While the converts spread out to the east end of London into neighboring areas and then to other cities, it was not until 1878 when The Christian Mission changed its name to The Salvation Army that the organization truly captured the publics imagination. The idea of an Army fighting sin attracted interest and the Army began to grow rapidly. Incorporating paramilitary ranks and uniforms, Booths movement spread th
Founder and General of the Salvation Army. Date and Place of Birth: 12th April 1829, 12 Nonintone Place, Sneinton, Nottingham, England. Family Background: Son of a speculative builder. Education: Apprenticed to a Pawn Broker. Chronology/Biography of William Booth: 1844: Converted to Christianity and became a revivalist preacher. 1849: Moved to London where he worked in a pawnbrokers shop in Walworth. 1852: Met Catherine Mumford for the first time. Catherine shared his interests in social reform but was not taken by his anti-women views whom he described as “the weaker sex”. He was particularly opposed to women preachers. Although he said he would not like it he would not prevent Catherine from becoming a preacher herself. 1855: Became a Methodist New Connexion Minister at Gateshead on Tyneside. 1860: Catherine first rose to preach in the Bethesda Chapel in Gateshead and she was so powerful that Booth changed his mind about women preachers. 1864: They founded the Whitechapel Christian M
