Booth, Catherine

( 182 9-1890 )

   cofounder of the Salvation Army

   Catherine Mumford Booth was born on January 17, 1829, and grew up in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England. In 1844, her family moved to London. She joined a Methodist church in Brixton, but in 1844 was excommunicated for siding with the group that left the church to form the New Connexion Methodist Church. In 1855, she married William Booth, a New Connexion preacher. In 1860, she wrote and published a pamphlet defending the rights of women to preach, a pamphlet that would be frequently quoted in the late 20th century. She preached for the first time in her husband's church.

   In 1861, the Booths left the New Connexion and began an independent evangelistic ministry. In 1865, they settled in the Whitechapel section of East London and began to minister to the area's poor. Over the next decade, this work grew into what is now known as the Salvation Army. She remained active in the Whitechapel ministry while working as a lobbyist for women and children, an author, and a public speaker. In 1886-87, she toured England, speaking on behalf of the Salvation Army and its causes. Catherine Booth died of cancer on August 20, 1890.

   Further reading:

   ■ Catherine Booth, Aggressive Christianity. (Boston: The Christian Witness, 1899)

   ■ ----, Female Ministry: Woman's Right to Preach the Gospel (New York: Salvation Army Supplies, 1859; rpt., London: Salvation Army, 1975)

   ■ F St. G. de L. Booth-Tucker, The Life of Catherine Booth (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1892)

   ■ Catherine Bramwell-Booth, Catherine Booth, the Story of Her Loves (London: Hodder & Stoughton 1970)

   ■ Roy Hattersley, Blood and Fire: William and Catherine Booth and Their Salvation Army (London: Little, Brown, 1999).