Booth, William (1829-1912)

Booth, William

CLERGYMAN (ENGLAND)

BORN 10 Apr 1829, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire: 11 Notintone Place, Sneinton - DIED 20 Aug 1912, London
GRAVE LOCATION London: Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington Church Street, Stoke Newington (Section - O06 (Index ref: 6S02 Burial No - 120240))

William Booth was a Methodist preacher who founded the Salvation Army in 1878 and became its first General. He worked for a pawnbroker before he became a preacher in 1852. In 1855 he married Catherine Mumford. He preferred working as an evangelist but the Methodist Reform Church refused him to do this full time and kept him assigned to a pastorate.

After his request was refused again in 1861 he became an independent evangelist. In 1865 he opened the "The Christian Revival Society" together with his wife Catherine. They did social work and opened soup kitchens for the poor. In 1878 he came up with the name Salvation Army. He became the general himself and other became its officers and soldiers. Apart from England his organisation worked in many other countries like Australia, Canada and India.

Many organisations were opposed to the Salvation Army,. among them the Church of England but also the brewers, who didn't want him to keep the poor from drinking. But his organisation became more and more respected and in later years he was received by heads of state.

In 1890 Catherine died and by 1899 he was blind in both his eyes but after a period of rest he regained his eyesight. In 1907 he visited the USA for the last time. After his death in 1912 his body was visited by 150,000 people at Clapton Congress Hall. He was buried with Catherine at the Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington, London.

Images

The grave of William Booth at Abney Park Cemetery, London.
Picture by Androom (28 May 2004)