The Salvation Army was born in Victorian England. In 1865 William and Catherine Booth, the Army founders, commenced work in the slums of East London. Their passion for the spread of the Christian gospel, and their compassion for the poor, the outcast and the underprivileged, produced a lifestyle pursuit by the Booth’s and their followers that was often summarised as "soup, soap and salvation."

William Booth’s restless entrepreneurial spirit inspired and enthused those who joined his crusade of salvation, and his Mission soon had its soldiers marching around the world. This crusade was often misunderstood and opposed.

Booth believed that people who were alienated from society could be redeemed if someone cared enough. He practised what he preached, and The Salvation Army embarked upon programmes to rehabilitate prisoners, offer cheap food and legal aid, established agencies to trace missing persons and to find work for the jobless.

Thus William Booth the preacher and evangelist also became known as a social reformer. His initiatives were formalised into an integrated plan for The Salvation Army’s social work and published in 1890 under the title, In Darkest England and the Way Out.

Booth’s ideas, and his enthusiasm and passion for them, were adopted and adapted by the The Salvation Army as it spread around the world.