By the middle of the 19th century the fires that had burned so brightly with the great awakening a century earlier had begun to die down, the Methodist society had itself become just another denomination within the dissent.
William Booth hailed from Nottingham, he was an itinerant lay preacher in the Methodist New Connection. When he arrived in London's east end he was staggered by the grinding poverty he encountered among the working classes, he resigned his commission with the New Connection to form the East London Christian Misssion.
His first preaching engagement was outside the notorious "Blind Beggar" pub on the Whitechapel road, a known hive of prostitution and gambling and every sort of vice. He threw his hat upon the pavement outside the pub and started to preach to it the love of Christ, among the missiles hurled at him from the patrons within in response to his loving invitation to turn from their wicked ways and recieve Jesus as their Saviour were human waste, offal and at least one live cat. But three persons got saved and the following evening they set up a tent in a field opposite for evangelistic meetings. By and by God blessed the work and many were saved and added to the company of those who believed.
One freezing november night Booth was walking across London bridge with his son BRAMWELL and peering over the side of the bridge he noticd what seemed to be rows of cardboard boxes stuffed only with newspaper, he enquired what they were "why father" came the reply "those are homeless men and women, they sleep in those boxes." William Booth was distraught, he went home in an agony of grief that such a thing could be. He paced the floor back and forth pulling on his beard "and you knew about it, you knew but you did nothing."
From this time forward the E.L.C.M. started to buy or rent vacant warehouses or such-like buildings and the first hostels were formed. Upon the door of each building were written these words NO MAN NEED STEAL OR STARVE OR SLEEP OUT AT NIGHT OR COMMIT SUICIDE-WE WILL HELP YOU.
IN may 1887 Booth called for GEORGE RAILTON, his closest friend and ally along with Bramwell to review the annual report for the E.L.C.M. written at the top of the document were the words The christian mission is a voluntary society, Bramwell objected strongly to this wording saying "I am no volunteer, I have no choice but to serve." William booth took his pen and crossed through the offending words and wrote in their place THE SALVATION ARMY.