Maud Ballington Booth
Encyclopedia
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
leader and co-founder of the Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America
Volunteers of America, based in Alexandria, Virginia, is a national, nonprofit, faith-based human services organization providing support programs to more than two million people throughout the United States each year...
.
She was born in Limpsfield
Limpsfield
Limpsfield is a village and parish in the east of the county of Surrey, England near Oxted at the foot of the North Downs. It lies between the A25 to the south and the M25 motorway to the north, near the Clackett Lane service station...
, near Oxted
Oxted
Oxted is a commuter town in Surrey, England at the foot of the North Downs, north of East Grinstead and south-east of Croydon.- History :The town lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the daughter of the local Anglican rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
. One of three girls, she was a sister to bestselling romance novelist, Florence L. Barclay
Florence L. Barclay
Florence Louisa Barclay was an English romance novelist and short story writer.-Biography:She was born Florence Louisa Charlesworth in Limpsfield, Surrey, England, the daughter of the local Anglican rector. One of three girls, she was a sister to Maud Ballington Booth, the Salvation Army leader...
. The work of her parents in social issues led to Maud’s interest for social welfare and social service. In 1882, she became a companion of Miss Catherine Booth
Catherine Booth
Catherine Booth was the wife of the founder of The Salvation Army, William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Army Mother'....
in organizing a branch of the Salvation Army in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. There she remained two years, then went with a party of Salvationists to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where, after suffering vicissitudes and even imprisonment, she finally succeeded in establishing a Salvation Army corps. Afterward she went to London slums until her marriage to the second son of the founder of the Salvation Army, Ballington Booth
Ballington Booth
Ballington Booth was an Officer in The Salvation Army and a co-founder of Volunteers of America.Born in Brighouse, England, Ballington Booth was the second child of William and Catherine Booth, founders of The Salvation Army in 1878...
in 1886.
In 1896, Ballington and Maud co-founded the Volunteers of America. Maud was also known for working to improve the conditions of prisons in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She later toured on the Chautauqua
Chautauqua
Chautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
circuit, moving audiences with her vivid account of life in prisons and calls for reform. Her publications include:
- Branded (1897)
- After Prison —What? (1903)
- Twilight Fairy Tales (1906)
Among the other causes she embraced was the legalization of euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
.