Booth, William
William Booth (1829-1912)
Birth and parentage
William Booth was born in Nottingham on April 10th, 1829, the son of Samuel Booth and his second wife Mary (nee Moss), who were both of Derbyshire stock.
William had three sisters: Ann, Emma and Mary. An elder brother, Henry, died on his own second birthday.
Of his father William expressed contrasting opinions. On the one hand he said: "My father was a Grab, a Get. He had been born into poverty. He determined to grow rich; and he did. He grew very rich, because he lived without God and simply worked for money; and when he lost it all, his heart broke with it, and he died miserably."
Yet on the other he could also make positive comments such as: "My father appears to have been a man of considerable force of character - of a high spirit, and a noble sense of truth and honour, combined with a strong desire to get on in the world."
At two days of age he was baptised at Sneinton Church, the parish register entry reading as follows: "William, son of Samuel Booth, Nottintone Place, gentleman, and Mary his wife. Ceremony performed by George Wilkins, D.D., Perpetual Curate, Vicar of St. Mary's; baptised 12th April, 1829."
At age six he was sent to Biddulph's Academy in Nottingham. The hours at the school were long and William noted that "Mr Biddulph never fairly woke up my ambition to learn until the year before leaving."
Along with his sisters he attended Sunday School in the parish church of Sneinton. Booth remembered the clergyman, a Parson Wyatt, as having a "rueful countenance" and "icy manner" which "seemed to say that his performances meant - "Do as I advise, or not".
Pawnbrokers' Apprenticeship and death of father
In 1842, when he was aged 13, his father sent him to work as an apprentice to Francis Eames in a pawnbroker's shop situated in the poorest part of Nottingham. He disliked his job more in his old age than in his youth. But it was through this work that he continued his association with the poor and disadvantaged.
In September that same year, however, his father Samuel became ill and died, though not before making a death-bed repentence. Shortly thereafter, his mother had to leave her the house in Sneinton for a small shop in one of the poor quarters of Nottingham where she earnt a meagre income selling toys, needles, cotton and the like.
Methodism and conversion
It was at this time that William started attending Broad Street Wesley Chapel (Methodist) and in 1844 he had a conversion experience, noting that: "It was in the open street [of Nottingham] that this great change passed over me".
 In 1846 he was impressed by the preaching of the Reverend James Caughey from America and David Greenbury from Scarborough. Encouraged by Greenbury he joined a group of fellow believers who preached in the streets. He delivered his first sermon in Kid Street.
Eventually Booth stopped working at the Pawnbrokers and was out of work for a year.
Move to London
In 1849 he moved to London to find work, again returning to the pawnbroking trade, though he also preached in churches on Sundays. A certain Mr Edward Rabbits heard William preaching at the Walworth Weslyan Chapel and eventually agreed to sponsor him until he could find a proper position in the Methodist Church.
On April 9, 1852, he left the pawnbrokers' trade for the last time. Through Mr Rabbits he met Catherine, the daughter of John and Sarah Mumford and they became engaged the same year.
Later, he was asked by a group of Reformers from Spalding in the Midlands to take charge of their Methodist circuit in Lincolnshire. In order to prepare for this, on February 14, 1854, William entered Dr William Cooke's training college for prospective New Connexion Methodist Ministers in London. He did not find this easy, confessing that he had to "wrestle with my studies."
Booth then became an assistant to the Rev. P.T. Gilton, Superintendant of the New Connexion Methodist circuit in London, though he also led revival meetings elsewhere in the country.
Marriage
July 16, 1855 saw William and Catherine marry in the Congregational Stockwell New Chapel, London; a brief honeymoon on the Isle of Wight followed.
In 1857 the Annual Conference of the Methodist New Connexion was held. William was appointed to the Halifax Circuit, with primary responsibility for Brighouse. The following year he was ordained into the Christian ministry and appointed to Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Resignation
On July 18, 1861, William, due to personal differences with members of the New Connexion, and also because he felt restricted by the circuit structure, wrote his official resignation letter - this was accepted the following year. Thereafter, William held evangelistic campaigns in Cornwall and Cardiff, his income coming through private sponsorship.
In 1865 William and Catherine moved to London, although William continued to preach elsewhere.
Tent mission and the Christian Mission
 On July 2, 1865, William commenced his first openair evangelistic campaign at the old Quaker burial ground on Mile End waste in Whitechapel, preaching in a tent. It was noted that "the breath of many reeked with the fumes of gin or beer which drove from the already heavy air within those canvas walls the last vestige of wholesomeness."
In November 1865 the family moved to Mare Street, Hackney to be nearer the work that William had commenced in the East End of London. They moved again in December 1868, this time to Gore Road, Hackney.
In 1869 The Christian Mission received its name with Booth as its leader and in November 1870 the First Annual Conference was held. The Mission by now comprised 18 stations. An early indicator of William's social concern was his establishment that year of a 'Food-for-the-Millions' program which provided cheap meals for the poor. It ran until 1874 and was administered by his young son, Bramwell.
The Salvation Army
In 1878 The Christian Mission was renamed The Salvation Army. As military terminology became more commonplace, Booth became known as the 'General', a suitable shortening of the title of 'General Superintendent' that he held as the head of The Christian Mission.
A 'Deed of Constitution' outlining his duties and responsibilities, which included the power to appoint a successor, was drawn up. Mission station preachers were given the rank of Captain and uniforms suitable to the ranks followed. A military discipline governed the lives of the officers.
Writing in 'The Salvationist' in 1879 Booth summed up the purpose of the Army in the following simple but striking way:
"We are a salvation people - this is our speciality - getting saved and keeping saved, and then getting somebody else saved, and then getting saved ourselves more and more until full salvation on earth makes the heaven within, which is finally perfected by the full salvation without, on the other side of the river."
But getting people saved was not always an easy task, as Booth found out. There was opposition from organised groups such as the so-called Skeleton Army. And early Salvationists were often pelted with stones or even imprisoned for marching down the street.
An expanding Army
1886 saw William's first overseas trip to North America "to survey the distant front and to encourage the loyalists."
 In 1888 the Booths moved again, this time to Hadley Wood, in the hope that it would help cure Catherine who had been taken ill. But the diagnosis turned out to be a serious one: she had cancer. William reflected years later that:
"I was stunned. I felt as if the whole world was coming to a standstill... I was due in Holland for some large meetings. I had arranged to travel there that very night. She would not hear of my remaining home for her sake...To go home was anguish. To be away was worse. Life became a burden, almost too heavy to be borne, until God in a very definite manner comforted my heart."
Death of Catherine
On October 4, 1890, Catherine was 'promoted to Glory' from Clacton-on-Sea. This was a deep blow to William: Catherine had been his closest companion and had been a considerable force in Army life, known for her effective oratory and powerful intellect.
In Darkest England
The same month, Booth published his social manifesto, 'In Darkest England and the Way Out'. He explored various ideas such as providing food and shelter for the poor, helping the disadvantaged learn agricultural trades, and assisting people in search of a better life to emigrate. From this point on, the Army's mission became two-pronged: to provide social salvation, as well as proclaiming personal salvation.
In the 1890s Booth immersed himself again in his first love: preaching and evangelism. Day-to-day control of the Army was therefore passed to his oldest son, Bramwell.
Family trauma
Between the period 1896-1902 William had to deal with three of his children leaving the Army, two (Ballington and Herbert) over differences of opinion as to its structure which they regarded as autocratic, and one (Catherine) because she decided to remain with her husband who had left the Army to join a sect.
Further grief came in 1903 when his daughter Emma died in a train crash at Dean Lake, Missouri. William had regarded her as his "left hand" and praised her on account of her having "all these years...cheered and sustained me in heart."
That year the Army built a new house for him at Hadley Wood, 'Rookstone', close to his previous home.
Motor Tours
In August 1904 William Booth commenced his first motor tour, travelling from Land's End to Aberdeen. One biographer noted that:
"The physical endurance of this old man of seventy-five is revealed by the itinerary of the tour which lasted for twenty-nine days and covered 1,224 miles. He spoke at seventy-five indoor, thirty-six outdoor, and fifty-three overflow, meetings; one hundred and sixty-four in all. He received, and replied to, thirty-six addresses of welcome. The average length of his indoor addresses was seventy minutes, and of his outdoor addresses, fifteen minutes."
Six more motor tours followed, the last one being as late as 1911.
Visit to the Holy Land
In the spring of 1905, en route to Australia and New Zealand, General William Booth visited the Holy Land (approximately modern day Israel).
He visited many biblical sites of importance such as Mount Calvary and the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem and the tomb of Lazarus in Bethany.
Honours
On his return he was honoured by being given the Freedom of the city of London at a special ceremony. Amongst many other honours, Booth was also awarded the honorary Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford University.
Eye problems
During a visit in Canada in March 1907, Booth noted that "My eyes failed me for reading my notes." He underwent eye surgery in both 1908 and 1909. Despite these he was now blind in one eye. Nevertheless, this didn't stop him from conducting campaigns in 1910 to Holland, Germany and Scandinavia. His last trip abroad was to Sweden in 1912.
The General lays down his sword
The War Cry for 17th August 1912, reported that the General was "not so well." Three days later, on Tuesday the 20th at 10.13 p.m., and following a terrific thunderstorm - as had occurred just prior to the passing of the Army Mother twenty-two years before - the Grand Old Man of The Salvation Army "laid down his sword."
 In accordance with a widely felt desire, the body of the General lay pavilioned in state at The Congress Hall, Clapton, on the Friday, Saturday and Monday following his passing, when some 150,000 grief-stricken people passed the bier to gaze upon the ivory-like features of "the world's best-loved man." The Mayor of South Shields had described him as "The Archbishop of the World."
A public memorial service was arranged at Olympia on the following Wednesday (28th August 1912), when 35,000 people attended, including Queen Alexandra, who came incognito, and representatives of King George V and Queen Mary. The procession took twenty minutes to pass down the long-extended central aisle.
The funeral was conducted by the new General, Bramwell Booth, at 3.00 p.m. on Thursday, 29th August, at Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington. The heart of London stood still for nearly four hours as the lengthy procession of some 7,000 Salvationists, including forty bands, wended its five-mile way through densely crowded streets from the Victoria Embankment, no fewer than 580 City and 2,370 Metropolitan police being on duty.
The estranged Catherine Booth-Clibborn and Herbert Booth were among the mourners, and Ballington Booth and his wife sent a telegram of love and sympathy.
Bramwell Booth delivered a striking address at the graveside, in the course of which he said:
"If you were to ask me, I think I could say that the happiest man I ever knew was the General. He was a glad spirit. He rose up on the crest of the stormy billows, and praised God, and laughed at the Devil's rage, and went on with his work with joy."
Further reading: Harold Begbie, 'The life of William Booth' (2 vols), Macmillan, New York, 1920, David Malcolm Bennett, 'The General: William Booth' (2 vols), Xulon Press, Florida, 2003, Roger Green, 'The life and ministry of William Booth', Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2005
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