Document of the month

Reference: CA/TC/10/119/1/1

William Booth was born at 12 Notintone Place in Sneinton, Nottingham, on 10 April 1829 to Samuel Booth and his second wife Mary Moss.  He was baptized on 12 April 1829 in the parish church of St Stephen in Sneinton.

William attended services at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel on Broad Street in Nottingham (now the Broadway Cinema).  In 1846 Nottingham was visited by the American evangelist James Caughey and William was so influenced by his sermons that he began to conduct his own services preaching in the poorer parts of Nottingham.

In 1849 he moved to London and was later accepted as a minister within the Methodist church; however, in 1865 he broke from Methodism and formed the Christian Mission in the East End of London.  Soon there were thirteen mission stations in various parts of East London.  In 1878 the Christian Mission was renamed The Salvation Army.

William Booth was a champion of the poor in the inner cities.  He died on 20 August 1912 and this month marks the 100th anniversary of his death.

In 1915 the William Booth Memorial Halls opened in Nottingham and became the home of the Nottingham 1 Corps of The Salvation Army.  This document is the programme for the stone-laying ceremony which took place on 7 July, 1914.  The hall was designed to provide accommodation for 800 adults and 500 young people and salvation services took place on Sundays and week nights for the ‘conversion of sinners’, ‘reclamation of drunkards’, care of the sick and dying, and young people’s and children’s services and classes.

A small selection of records held at Nottinghamshire Archives is on display in the archives search room during August, marking the anniversary of the death of William Booth.  Find out more about visiting archives.