Maud Elizabeth Charlesworth (September 13, 1865 – August 26, 1948) later changed her name to Maud Ballington Booth, was a

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its ...

leader and co-founder of the

Volunteers of America Volunteers of America (VOA) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1896 that provides affordable housing and other assistance services primarily to low-income people throughout the United States. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, the orga ...

Biography

She was born in

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25.

, near

Oxted Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs. It is south south-east of Croydon in Greater London, west of Sevenoaks in Kent, and north of East Grinstead in West Sussex. Oxte ...

, Surrey,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, the daughter of the local Anglican

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. One of three girls, she was a sister to bestselling romance

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

Florence L. Barclay Florence Louisa Barclay (2 December 1862 – 10 March 1921) 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 rect ...

. When she was four, her father, Rev. Samuel Charlesworth, moved his family to Limehouse in London. The work of both her parents there in social issues led to Maud’s interest for social welfare and social service. In 1882, she became a companion of Miss Catherine Booth in organizing a branch of the Salvation Army in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. In 1883, they went to

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...

, Switzerland, where they were both expelled after aggressive police interrogation. She stayed with the Booth family and worked in the London slums and elsewhere until her marriage to the second son of the founder of the Salvation Army, Ballington Booth in 1886, against her father's wishes. In 1887, she took command of the Salvation Army forces in the United States alongside her husband, Ballington Booth. She was also active and successful in slum mission work in New York City. In 1895, Booth became a naturalized American citizen. She lived in

Kew Gardens, Queens Kew Gardens is a neighborhood in the central area of the New York City borough of Queens. Kew Gardens is bounded to the north by the Union Turnpike and the Jackie Robinson Parkway (formerly the Interboro Parkway), to the east by the Van Wyck E ...

In 1896, Ballington and Maud left the Salvation Army after a dispute with General Booth, to co-found the

. 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 ( ) was an adult education and social 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 bro ...

circuit, moving audiences with her vivid account of life in prisons and calls for reform. Among the other causes she embraced was the legalization of

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

Selected works

* ''Branded'' (1897) * ''Lights of Child-Land'' (1902) * ''After Prison —What?'' (1903) * ''Twilight Fairy Tales'' (1906)

References

External links

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Maud Charlesworth (Mrs. Ballington) Booth
From a scrapbook in the Carrie Chapman Catt Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collection Division at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

Maud Ballington Booth, photograph; to speak in Geneva
From a scrapbook in the Carrie Chapman Catt Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collection Division at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Maud Ballington 1865 births 1948 deaths American Salvationists American activists People from Oxted English Salvationists English emigrants to the United States Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery 19th-century English writers 19th-century British women writers 20th-century English writers 20th-century British women writers People from Kew Gardens, Queens