Christian History Timeline: William and Catherine Booth
William Booth
(1829–1912)
1829: Born April 10 in Nottingham [Born April 10 in Nottingham ]
1843: Father dies; works as pawnbroker
1844: Converted at Broad Street Wesleyan Chapel
1846: Adopts revivalist methods of James Caughey
1849: Arrives in London to work as asst. pawnbroker
1851: Meets Catherine Mumford
1854: Ordained by Methodist New Connexion
1855: Marries Catherine Mumford June 16
1857: Appointed to New Connexion “settled ministry”
1861: Resigns from the New Connexion; with Catherine becomes itinerant evangelist
1865: Opens Christian Mission in East London
1878: Renames Christian Mission a “Salvation Army”; first Salvation Army band
1882: Negotiates with Church of England to make Salvation Army a branch of the church
1885: Crusades against teenage prostitution; Army has 1,780 officers in U.K., 1,296 abroad
1888: First Salvation Army food and shelter outreach.
1890: Publishes In Darkest England and the Way Out
1891: Opens safety-match factory in East London
1898: Prays before the U.S. Senate
1905: Awarded Freedom of the City of London
1907: Receives honorary doctorate from Oxford
1912: Dies on August 20; succeeded as Salvation Army General by son Bramwell; 9,415 corps and 15,988 officers worldwide
(1989: 14,397 corps and 25,056 officers; two-thirds active)
Catherine Booth
(1829–1890)
1829: Born Catherine Mumford on January 17 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire
1844: Family moves to south London
1846: Converted at home
1850: Expelled by Wesleyans
1851: Meets William Booth
1855: Marries on June 16
1859: Publishes Female Ministry
1860: Preaches first sermon
1861: Becomes, with William, itinerant evangelist
1865: Preaches in London’s West End and at summer resorts
1879: First edition of Army’s The War Cry
1880: Salvation Army begins official work in U.S. and Australia
1883: Salvation Army begins to help discharged prisoners, “fallen women”, and drunkards
1890: Dies of cancer on October 4
Significant Social
and Political Events
1828: Duke of Wellington prime minister
1829: Catholic Emancipation in England
1833: Oxford Movement begins
1837: Victoria becomes Queen; Martin Van Buren inaugurated
1840: Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert; penny postage begins in Britain
1841: U.K. pop. 18.5 million (U.S. 17 million)
1844: YMCA founded
1846: Irish potato famine
1848: Marx’s Communist Manifesto; revolutions across Europe
1854: Spurgeon becomes pastor of New Park Street Church; Immaculate Conception dogma
1854–56: Crimean War
1857: Indian Mutiny; Livingstone’s Missionary Travels
1859: Darwin’s Origin of Species
1861: Dickens’s Great Expectations
1861–65: U.S. Civil War
1866: Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment
1868: Gladstone prime minister
1869: First Vatican Council; British debtor’s prisons abolished
1874: Disraeli prime minister
1876: Bell invents telephone
1877: First Wimbledon championship
1878: Electric street lights introduced in London
1879: Henry George’s Poverty and Progress
1880: Gladstone prime minister
1881: London hits 3.3 million (New York 1.2)
1886: London church attendance begins to decline; Irish Home Rule defeated
1888: London Girls’ Match Strike; Jack the Ripper
1889: London Dock Strike
1890: Global flu epidemics
1892: Diesel engine
1893: Labour Party formed
1894: Kipling’s Jungle Book
1896: First modern Olympics
1898: Curies discover radium
1899–1902: Boer War in South Africa
1900: Planck’s quantum theory
1901: Queen Victoria dies; Edward VII begins reign
1903: 20-mph speed limit for cars in Britain
1910: Missionary Conference, Edinburgh
1912: Titanic sinks
1914: World War I begins
By the Editors
[Christian History originally published this article in Christian History Issue #26 in 1990]
Next articles
William and Catherine Booth: A Gallery of the Booths’ Children
Their struggles and achievements
Norman H. MurdochWilliam Booth’s Theology of Redemption
The General’s view of sanctification, the kingdom of God, and salvation moved his Army to action.
Roger J. GreenThe Story Behind Salvation Army Music
William Booth felt suspicious of organized music groups. Yet he launched a movement that became renowned worldwide for its bands and choirs.
Ronald W. Holz