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William
Booth and Caistor
by Major Howard Webber
Flags and bunting and a festive air greeted
General William Booth as he entered Caistor, north
Lincolnshire, on Saturday 2nd September 1905. Huge crowds
greeted him. Traps, (two wheeled carriages), had come from all
over the neighbourhood to this little town of less than 2,300
souls, and a civic reception was prepared for him. Nothing
unusual about this. In his later years Booth was greeted in
similar fashion wherever he went.
What made his visit to Caistor different to
any other was what he said there. He spoke of coming to
Caistor over 50 years ago, a young man with few friends, and
the lasting impressions that it made, 'It was at Caistor that
he first commenced the work that was to become so dear to
him,' he said.
One Friday in mid-December 1853, towards the
end of his time as a Wesleyan Reform minister in Spalding,
William Booth(24yrs) received a letter, from a Parkin
Wigelsworth, a solicitor in Donington, requesting he spend the
following week in Caistor, almost 60 miles away, 20 miles
north of Lincoln. Wigelsworth assured Booth that he would look
after any appointments he had for that week.
Booth didn't need asking twice. Despite
needing a rest and recently being 'very ill,' he set off the
following morning, having first written to his fiancée
Catherine in London, to tell her what he was about to do.
Earlier, he had told her how difficult it would be to leave
his circuit for more than two days even if her poor health had
made it necessary. Consequently, Catherine was none too
pleased to hear his news, as is clear from her reply,
'I was surprised to hear of your going to Caistor, after intimating to
me the impossibility of your leaving your circuit for more
than 2 days without consequences being so serious, even if I
had been so
bad(ill) as to make it necessary. I am truly sorry to hear of
your state of health, but give up in utter despair the idea of
making you judicious and prudent. After labouring in public so
incessantly for a month or 6 weeks I cannot think it was wise
to undertake to preach 3 times on Sunday and every night of
the week. Neither do I think it was necessary or right.'
Arriving at 4pm he discovered he was
'altogether unexpected'. However, rather than return, he
sought out the bellman (town crier) and some friends to
advertise the fact that he was there. At the meeting the
following morning 'I offered many reasons why the members
should join me in seeking revival in Caistor. We knelt and
gave ourselves afresh to God.' In both the afternoon and
evening meetings many came under conviction and committed
their lives to Christ.
In his journal, Booth highlights one
particular case, that of a Mr. Joseph Wigelsworth, the 24 year
old brother of the man who had requested Booth visit Caistor.
Deeply troubled during the morning meeting he returned in the
afternoon and wept. In the evening Booth spoke to him and
discovered that he had been brought up in a Christian home and
been a Methodist for years, 'yet he was unsaved.' As Booth
spoke with him, 'he broke down, came boldly to the penitent
form, and with many tears and prayers he sought and obtained
forgiveness. 'It was a splendid case and did us all good.'
The place was filled every night that
followed and 'thirty six found salvation.' An entry dated 17th
December 1853 in the account book of Caistor's Wesleyan
Reformers, reads 'To cash for Mr Booth's expenses £1.' Mr
Batty the bellman was paid 1 shilling for his services.
Having promised to spend another week there,
Booth returned in the January and was pleased to find that
only two of the thirty-six had fallen away and returned to
their previous life. With increasing congregations the
Reformers managed to acquire a redundant Congregational chapel
in time for Booth's return. The result was, 'a glorious
harvest. Seventy six were saved during the week,' Booth
recorded.
But there were critics. The Reformers, to
which Booth belonged, had only commenced their services in
Caistor a few weeks before Booth's first visit, but had grown
significantly. There were already thirty five members when he
first arrived, eighty by Christmas and over two hundred by the
time by the end of his third visit in February. One newspaper
correspondent spoke of them as having 'hewn, partly out of the
rough and partly from other sects, Ranters, Independents and
Nothingarians, a sect of their own.' He stated that, in the
'“revival meetings” as they are technically called...the
wildest fanaticism is encouraged; ravings and bawling, and all
manner of extravagant doings are permitted.'
At the end of his final visit in the
February of 1854, shortly before he moved down to London,
Booth recorded, 'Every night many souls saved...The parting
with this dear people was very painful. I had never
experienced anything approaching to the success with which God
crowned my labours here.' He loved Caistor and returned in
June and again the following year with his new bride.
On his visit in 1905 the chairman of the
council spoke of the 'abiding results' of his 'unwearied
self-denying labours as an Evangelist in this town 50 years
ago,' so many were the lives that were transformed. His 15
months stay in Spalding was used powerfully by God, but it was
at Caistor that his eyes were opened to how God through him
could reach the lost, 'the rough and Nothingarians,' beyond
the chapel confines. With all that he achieved in the founding
The Salvation Army, 'soul-saving' would ever remain what he in
his old age termed his 'life's business.'
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