General William Booth (1829-1912), founder of the Salvation Army,” by George Edward Wade (1853-1933). Dedicated 1929, on the centenary of General Booth's birth. Close-up of the top part of the bronze figure seen in profile. One of a matching pair of monuments to General Booth and his wife Catherine (1829-1890) in front of the William Booth Memorial Training College, Champion Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5. Both figures are shown during prayer meetings in their Salvation Army uniforms. General Booth, with notes or a hymn sheet in one hand, raises his arm in preaching, or perhaps conducting worship.
Left: Whole monument. Right: Statue from the rear. The statue stands on a grey unpolished granite pedestal. Behind it is Sir Giles Gilbert Scott's training college building, in outline looking rather like the same architect's Liverpool Cathedral, because of its tall central tower. Looked at from the rear, the General seems to be preaching to the large spread of South London laid out below him. The building to the left of this view is the attractively Italianate Denmark Hill Station of 1865.
Left: The whole statue in profile. Right: The raised metal inscription on the front of the pedestal. General Booth has a distinctive, strongly-featured profile, complemented” by his fine head of thick, wavy hair and flowing beard. However, he looks wiry and his pose is energetic, appropriately suggesting the strenuous efforts he made in his inspirational career.
Related Material
- Wade's statue Mrs Catherine Booth, in the same location
- William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army
- The Origin and Early Development of the Salvation Army in Victorian England
- Catherine Mumford Booth: The "Mother" of the Salvation Army and an Early Christian Feminist
- William and Catherine Booth: A Chronology of Founders of the Salvation Army
- William Booth Memorial Training College
Photographs the author. [You may use these image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]
Bibliography
Baker, Margaret. London Statues and Monuments. 4th ed. Princes Risborough: Shire, 1995. Print.
Bullus, Claire, and Ronald Asprey. The Statues of London. London & New York: Merrell, 2009. Print.
"William Booth, Statue...." National Recording Project. PMSA (Public Monuments and Sculpture Association). Web. 11 April 2013.
Last modified 11 April 2013