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William Booth

(1829-1912), Founder of the Salvation Army

Sitter in 39 portraits
Booth was apprenticed at thirteen to a Nottingham pawnbroker. Having converted to Methodism, he joined a group of revivalists who conducted religious services in the streets of the city. In 1849 he moved to London. He devoted his leisure to religion and became a lay preacher. Here, he met and married the like-minded Catherine Mumford. In 1865 he and his wife started the Christian Revival Society, later the Christian Mission, in the East End of London. They held evening and Sunday meetings to offer repentance, salvation and Christian ethics to the poorest and most needy. In 1878 the organisation was reorganised as the Salvation Army, with military titles and uniforms and its own flag and music. Central to the Salvation Army’s approach was the belief that evangelical work among the poor must be accompanied by well-organised social relief work. In 1890, Booth published In Darkest England and the Way Out (1890), which set out a number of these social schemes.

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Emma Moss Booth-Tucker (née Booth); William Booth, published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd - NPG x197602

Emma Moss Booth-Tucker (née Booth); William Booth

published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd
bromide postcard print, circa 1905
NPG x197602

William Booth, by Unknown photographer - NPG x196297

William Booth

by Unknown photographer
gelatin silver print, 1905
NPG x196297

William Booth, by Herbert F. Joyce - NPG x1538

William Booth

by Herbert F. Joyce
platinum print, August 1906
NPG x1538

William Booth in his robes as D.C.L. of Oxford, published by The Philco Publishing Co - NPG x197595

William Booth in his robes as D.C.L. of Oxford

published by The Philco Publishing Co
bromide postcard print, 1906
NPG x197595

William Booth, published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd - NPG x136275

William Booth

published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd
postcard print, circa 1907
NPG x136275

William Booth, published by Andrew & George Taylor - NPG x138004

William Booth

published by Andrew & George Taylor
bromide postcard print, circa 1907
NPG x138004

William Booth, published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd - NPG x197597

William Booth

published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd
bromide postcard print, circa 1907
NPG x197597

William Booth; Evangeline Cory Booth, published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd - NPG x197600

William Booth; Evangeline Cory Booth

published by Rotary Photographic Co Ltd
bromide postcard print, circa 1908
NPG x197600

'City Honours Late General Booth', by Ernest Brooks, for  Central News Ltd - NPG x137203

'City Honours Late General Booth'

by Ernest Brooks, for Central News Ltd
vintage print, 29 August 1912
NPG x137203

William Booth, by Unknown artist - NPG D31991

William Booth

by Unknown artist
lithograph, late 19th-early 20th century
NPG D31991

William Booth ('Men of the Day. No. 267.'), by Sir Leslie Ward - NPG D44095

William Booth ('Men of the Day. No. 267.')

by Sir Leslie Ward
chromolithograph, published in Vanity Fair 25 November 1882
NPG D44095

William Booth, by Alexander ('Alick') Penrose Forbes Ritchie - NPG D9642

William Booth

by Alexander ('Alick') Penrose Forbes Ritchie
lithograph, published 21 June 1905
NPG D9642

William Booth, by George Sidney Hunt, after  Sir Hubert von Herkomer - NPG D31992

William Booth

by George Sidney Hunt, after Sir Hubert von Herkomer
mezzotint, 1924
NPG D31992

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