1829-1912. British founder of the Salvation
Army in 1878, and its first `general'. Born
in Nottingham, the son of a builder, he
experienced religious conversion at the age
of 15. In 1865 he founded the Christian
Mission in Whitechapel, E London, which in
1878 became the Salvation Army. In Darkest
England, and the Way Out 1890 contained
proposals for the physical and spiritual
redemption of the many
down-and-outs. His wife Catherine (1829-1890,
born Mumford), whom he married in 1855,
became a public preacher in about 1860,
initiating the ministry of women. Their
eldest son, William Bramwell Booth
(1856-1929), became chief of staff of the
Salvation Army in 1880 and was general from
1912 until his deposition 1929. Evangeline
Booth (1865-1950), 7th child of Gen William
Booth, was a prominent Salvation Army
officer, and 1934-39 was general. She became
a US citizen. Catherine Bramwell Booth
(1884-1987), a granddaughter of William
Booth, was a commissioner in the Salvation
Army.