William Booth, founder and first General of the Salvation Army, died at his home in Hadley Wood on 20 August 1912. He was 83.

Booth had begun mission work in London’s East End in 1865. The organisation that developed from it became known as the Christian Mission before adopting the name Salvation Army in 1878. Booth became its General, while his wife, Catherine, played a central role in the movement’s development.

The Salvation Army combined evangelical work with practical responses to poverty. Booth’s 1890 book In Darkest England and the Way Out proposed hostels, employment centres and other schemes intended to help people living in severe poverty.

By 1912 the organisation had spread well beyond the East End. At Booth’s death it had 15,875 officers and cadets working in 58 countries and colonies.

The public response to his death was large. Booth’s body lay in state at Congress Hall in Clapton, where the Salvation Army records that around 150,000 people passed the bier. About 35,000 people attended a public memorial service at Olympia.

Booth’s funeral took place on 29 August. Around 7,000 Salvationists, including 40 bands, joined the procession to Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington, where he was buried beside Catherine.

His eldest son, Bramwell Booth, succeeded him as General.