Editing Catherine Booth

{{short description|Englishwoman who co-founded The Salvation Army}}
{{other people}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
[[File:catherinebooth.jpg|thumb|right|Catherine Booth]]
{{The Salvation Army}}
'''Catherine Booth''' (''née'' '''Mumford''', 17 January 1829 &ndash; 4 October 1890) was co-founder of [[The Salvation Army]], along with her husband [[William Booth]]. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Mother of The Salvation Army'.

==Life==
She was born as Catherine Mumford in [[Ashbourne, Derbyshire]], England, in 1829 to Methodist parents, John Mumford and Sarah Milward. Her father was an occasional lay preacher and carriage maker. Her family later moved to [[Boston, Lincolnshire]], and later lived in [[Brixton]], [[London]]. From an early age, Catherine was a serious and sensitive girl. She had a strong [[Christianity |Christian]] upbringing and was said to have read the [[Bible]] through eight times before the age of 12.<ref>[http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/25C93B05B881107A852574420043CC58?Opendocument "Catherine Booth" at The Salvation Army] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130415181351/http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/25C93B05B881107A852574420043CC58?Opendocument |date=15 April 2013 }}</ref>

During Catherine's adolescence a spinal curvature led to years of enforced idleness.<ref name=parkin/> She kept herself busy, however, and was especially concerned about the problems of [[alcoholism]]. Even as a young girl she had served as secretary of a Juvenile [[Temperance movement| Temperance Society]] writing articles for a temperance [[magazine]]. Catherine was a member of the local [[Hope UK| Band of Hope]] and a supporter of the national Temperance Society.

When Catherine refused to condemn [[Methodist Reform Church| Methodist Reformers]] in 1850, the [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodists]] expelled her. For the Reformers she led a girls' Sunday school class in Clapham. At the home of Edward Rabbits, in 1851, she met William Booth, who also had been expelled by the Wesleyans for reform sympathies. William was reciting a temperance poem, "The Grog-seller’s Dream", which appealed to Catherine, who had embraced the new Methodist passion for abstinence.<ref name=murdoch>[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1990/issue26/2605b.html Murdoch, Norman H., "The Army Mother", ''Christian History Magazine'', Issue 26: William and Catherine Booth: Salvation Army Founders (1990) Christianity Today ]</ref>

They soon fell in love and became engaged. During their three-year engagement, Catherine constantly wrote letters of encouragement to William as he performed the tiring work of a preacher. They were married on 16 June 1855<ref>[https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/about-us/our-story/our-history/founders-william-and-catherine-booth/ "Founders William & Catherine Booth", Salvation Army, Australia Eastern Territory]</ref> at [[ Stockwell ]] Green [[Congregational]] Church in London. Their wedding was very simple, as they wanted to use their time and money for his ministry. Even on their honeymoon, William was asked to speak at meetings.

The Booths had eight children: [[Bramwell Booth]], [[ Ballington Booth]], [[Kate Booth]], [[Emma Booth (The Salvation Army)|Emma Booth]], [[Herbert Booth]], [[Marie Booth]], [[Evangeline Booth]] and [[Lucy Booth]], and were dedicated to giving them a firm Christian knowledge. Two of their offspring, Bramwell and Evangeline, later became [[Generals of The Salvation Army]].

==Ministry==
[[File:William and Catherine Booth, 1862.jpg|thumb|Catherine and William Booth]]
Catherine began to be more active in the work of the church at [[Brighouse]]. Though she was extremely nervous, she enjoyed working with young people and found the courage to speak in children's meetings. During this period she discovered a model, American Wesleyan revivalist [[Phoebe Palmer]]. With William's encouragement, Catherine wrote a pamphlet, ''Female Ministry: Woman’s Right to Preach the Gospel'' (1859), in defense of American preacher Mrs. Phoebe Palmer's preaching, whose preaching had caused a great stir in the area where the Booths lived. ''Female Ministry'' was a short, powerful apology for women's rights to preach the gospel.  The pamphlet identifies three major principles on which her convictions rested. First, Catherine saw that women are neither naturally nor morally inferior to men. Second, she believed there was no scriptural reason to deny them a public ministry. Third, she maintained that what the Bible urged, the Holy Spirit had ordained and blessed and so must be justified.<ref name=parkin/> She complained that the "unjustifiable application" of Paul's advice, “ 'Let your women keep silence in the Churches' (1 Corinthians 14:34), has resulted in more loss to the Church, evil to the world, and dishonor to God, than any of [its] errors".<ref name=murdoch/>

At that time, it was unheard of for women to speak in adult meetings. She was convinced that [[Christian feminism|women had an equal right to speak]]. In January 1860, following the birth of their fourth child, at [[Gateshead]], during William's sermon, she asked to "say a word". She witnessed to her timidity about claiming her calling, yet William announced that she would speak that night.<ref name=murdoch/> It was the beginning of a tremendous ministry, as people were greatly challenged by her preaching.

She became a partner in her husband's work and soon found her own sphere as a powerful preacher. She also spoke to people in their homes, especially to [[alcoholic]]s, whom she helped to make a new start in life. Often she held cottage meetings for [[religious conversion|converts]]. She eventually began to hold her own campaigns. Many agree that no man of her era, including her husband, exceeded her in popularity or spiritual results. Her first written article, the pamphlet ''Female Teaching''<ref>{{cite book | title=2018 year book | year=2017 | publisher=Salvation Books | page=21 | isbn=9781911149408 }}</ref> was published in December 1859.

Catherine Booth was eloquent and compelling in speech, articulate and devastatingly logical in writing, she had for over twenty years defended the right of women to preach the gospel on the same terms as men. At first, Catherine and her husband had shared a ministry as traveling evangelists, but then she came into great demand as a preacher in her own right, especially among the well-to-do. A woman preacher was a rare phenomenon in a world where women had few civil rights, and no place in the professions. Catherine Booth was both a woman and a fine preacher, a magnetic combination that attracted large numbers to hear her and made its own statement about the validity of women's ministry.<ref name=parkin>[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1990/issue26/2610.html Parkin, Major Christine, "Pioneer in Female Ministry", ''Christian History Magazine'', Issue 26: William and Catherine Booth: Salvation Army Founders (1990) Christianity Today]</ref>

Amongst other activities, Catherine lobbied Queen Victoria to seek legislation for safeguarding females, in the form of the "Parliamentary Bill for the protection of girls"<ref>{{cite web | title=Personal papers | publisher=The National Archives, UK | url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/lists/gb-2133-sa.htm}}</ref>

==The Christian Mission==
They began the work of The Christian Mission in 1865 in London's East End. William preached to the poor and ragged and Catherine spoke to the wealthy, gaining support for their financially demanding ministry. The textile industry employed as many women as men and contributed a substantial number of female officers. In addition, domestic indoor servants flocked to the Army, and many became officers.<ref name=horridge>[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/1990/issue26/2614.html Horridge, Glenn K., "William Booth's Officers", ''Christian History Magazine'', Issue 26: William and Catherine Booth: Salvation Army Founders (1990) Christianity Today]</ref> William and Catherine and their son Bramwell and daughter-in-law Florence were all vegetarian. Bramwell wrote a list of reasons he had maintained the diet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://salvationist.ca/articles/2010/10/the-gospel-of-vegetarianism/|title=Gospel of Vegetarianism|date=5 October 2010 }}</ref>

The "Appointments of Officers, 1883" lists 127 married men. This number is important, because wives were expected to help run the corps. Since wives were not compelled to attend the officers' course at the Training Home, they were not given a commission and, therefore, did not appear in the list. General Booth had an active policy of encouraging officers to intermarry. The "Appointments of Officers, 1883" lists thirty-six couples who had done so, the women resigning their own rights of officership to become joint officers with their husbands. The loss of the women officers' rights when marrying contradicts the constant statement regarding equality. The Army leaders were clearly not so radical as to lose the concept of man's conjugal superiority. This social policy carried into pay; the husband, as head of the household, received the pay for the couple. The idea that single female officers could manage on less money than their male counterparts was abolished before the Second World War. Until that time, male officers received a third more pay than their female counterparts.<ref name=horridge/> {{Citation needed|reason=Missing proper quotation marks|date=August 2024}}

Catherine Booth organized Food for the Million shops where the poor could buy a cheap meal and at Christmas, hundreds of meals were distributed to the needy.<ref>[http://www.derbyshireuk.net/booth.html "Famous Derbyshire People", Derbyshire, UK]</ref>

When the name was changed in 1878 to [[The Salvation Army]] and [[William Booth]] became known as the [[Generals of The Salvation Army|General]], Catherine became known as the 'Mother of The Salvation Army.' She was behind many of the changes in the new organization, designing the flag and bonnets for the ladies, and contributed to the Army's ideas on many important issues and matters of belief.

The Booths rented a small villa, Crossley House, in [[Clacton-on-Sea]], which had a sea view that she loved.

Catherine Booth died of [[breast cancer]] at age 61 at Crossley House. She is interred with her husband in [[Abney Park Cemetery]], London.

Subsequently, Crossley House was donated to people with learning disabilities and provided many summer holidays until it was sold to property developers in 2005.

==Works==
* [https://archive.org/details/papersonpractica00boot Practical Religion (1878)]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6669/pg6669-images.html Godliness (1881)]
* [https://onlinechristianlibrary.com/authors/catherine-booth/ Aggressive Christianity (1883)]
* [http://www.gospeltruth.net/booth/cath_booth/life_and_death/cbooth_lifeanddeath_index.htm Life and Death (1883)]
* [http://www.salvationfactory.org/catherine-booth-collection/ Highway of our God (1886)]
* [http://www.gospeltruth.net/booth/cath_booth/popular_christianity/cbooth_pop_chr_index.htm Popular Christianity (1887)]
* [https://archive.org/stream/lifeofcatherineb02boot/lifeofcatherineb02boot_djvu.txt Life of Catherine Booth: The Mother of the Salvation Army (1892)]
* Female Teaching<ref>{{cite book | isbn=9781911149408 | title=The Salvation Army Year Book 2018 | year=2017 | publisher=Salvation Books}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Catherine Booth statue Mile End Road.JPG|thumb|upright|Statue of Catherine Booth in the Mile End Road, London, close to the site of the first Salvation Army meeting. The statue was donated by the women of the Salvation Army in the United States in 2015 to mark the Army's 150th anniversary.]]
*Catherine Booth Hospital (CBH) is a hospital and nursing school run by the Salvation Army in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. 
*Catherine Booth House is a confidentially located domestic violence shelter in the Seattle/King County area. Operated by The Salvation Army, CBH has been serving battered women and their children since 1976.
*Catherine Booth Child Development Center is a preschool located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
* Statues of each of the Booths by [[George Edward Wade]] were erected on [[Champion Hill]], next to the Salvation Army's training college in London in 1929.<ref>Darke, Jo, ‘'The Monument Guide to England and Wales: A National Portrait in Bronze and Stone'’, photographs by Jorge Lewinski and Mayotte Magnus, a MacDonald Illustrated Book, London, 1991 p, 72-73</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Catherine Booth |website=statuesforequality.com |url=https://statuesforequality.com/pages/catherine_booth |access-date=30 March 2021 }}</ref>
* Replicas of the statues by Wade stand in the [[Mile End Road]], London, close to the site of the first Salvation Army meeting. That of William was unveiled in 1979; and that of Catherine in 2015.
* Catherine Booth House is a residential and support unit for vulnerable families and mothers in Portsmouth, England.<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/mp-tours-salvation-army-centre-vulnerable-families-and-mothers | title=MP tours Salvation Army Centre }}</ref>
* Catherine Booth Hospital in the [[Notre Dame de Grace]] sector of Montreal has been a rehabilitation center since 1973; it had been a maternity hospital since 1925, upon its move to its present location, and before that a rescue home for women (founded in 1890).<ref>{{ cite web | url=https://cdn.ciussscentreouest.ca/documents/ciusss-coim/Etablissements_et_ressources/CHSLD/16_1783_CatherineBooth_Fiche_EN.pdf?1544562209 | title=Welcome to the Catherine Booth Hospital }}</ref>
*Catherine is [[Calendar of saints (Church of England)|remembered]] (with [[William Booth|William]]) in the [[Church of England]] with a [[Commemoration (observance)|commemoration]] on 20 August.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Calendar|url=https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/common-worship/churchs-year/calendar|access-date=2021-04-08|website=The Church of England|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Catherine Bramwell-Booth]], her granddaughter
*[[Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Frederick Booth-Tucker|Booth-Tucker, Frederick]] ''The Short Life of Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army'' (1892, 1910) Also published as ''The life of Catherine Booth : the Mother of The Salvation Army''.
* Booth-Tucker, Frederick ''Gems from the life of Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army : being extracts from the original'' (1893)
* Carpenter, Minnie Lindsay Rowell ''Women of the flag'' (1945)
* [https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498561167/Settled-Views-The-Shorter-Writings-of-Catherine-Booth Settled Views: The Shorter Writings of Catherine Booth], ed. Andrew M. Eason and Roger J. Green (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2017).

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/vwwplib.pl?#booth Works at The Victorian Women Writers Project]
* {{Gutenberg author | id=2142}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Catherine Mumford Booth}}
* {{OL author}}
* {{Librivox author |id=13677}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Catherine}}
[[Category:1829 births]]
[[Category:1890 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Christian saints]]
[[Category:19th-century English women writers]]
[[Category:19th-century Methodists]]
[[Category:Anglican saints]]
[[Category:Burials at Abney Park Cemetery]]
[[Category:Christian female saints of the Late Modern era]]
[[Category:English evangelicals]]
[[Category:English Salvationists]]
[[Category:English suffragists]]
[[Category:English theologians]]
[[Category:Methodist theologians]]
[[Category:Methodist writers]]
[[Category:People from Ashbourne, Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Family of William Booth|Catherine]]
[[Category:Women of the Victorian era]]
[[Category:English women religious writers]]
[[Category:Women Protestant religious leaders]]