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CATHERINE BOOTH - ASHBOURNE'S GOLDEN LADY

In one of a projected series looking at some of Derbyshire's many statues, writer and local historian Peter Seddon acquaints himself with Catherine Booth.

Catherine Booth - Ashbourne's 'Golden Lady'

Some of the subjects featured in our Famous Residents category have long-since passed away. Others are very much alive, celebrities in their own lifetime, perhaps yet to achieve even more, or fade quietly to obscurity.

But there is a third category of 'Famous Residents' neither truly dead nor even really alive - for surely a statue acquires its very own persona in the place where fate decrees that it should reside.

One such inanimate celebrity is the bust honouring Catherine Booth (1829-1890), who co-founded the Salvation Army with her husband William Booth.

The attractive sculpture stands in the Memorial Park at Ashbourne - but despite its striking gold appearance, many visitors to the town fail to encounter it, choosing to venture little beyond the shopping area. Yet the short walk to the park is well worth the effort, for there one can come face to face, literally, with a remarkable lady.

Catherine Booth was born Catherine Mumford at 13 Sturston Road, Ashbourne, on 17 January 1829. The modest house still stands, marked by a plaque.

Her family moved first to Boston, Lincolnshire, and later Brixton, London. In 1855 she married the preacher William Booth, and the couple pledged from the outset to devote their lives to God's work, spending both their time and money to help the poor and needy. Central to their Christian beliefs was a resolute stance against the evil of strong drink.

A full article on Catherine Booth may be read on this site at the link Booth, Catherine, so here we shall concentrate solely on her memorial.

Sited at the upper end of Ashbourne's leafy Memorial Park, Catherine surveys the scene around her with a serenity of expression which suggests a tacit approval of her domain.

The bust is painted in a deep gold, and particularly in the sunshine radiates the very warmth and benevolence for which Catherine Booth was known. The sculptor has done a fine job in capturing Catherine's true character, for behind the kind smile lies a firm 'no nonsense' resolution that made her such a steadfast figure.

The bust is mounted atop a stone plinth which carries a bronze plaque - this depicts the Salvation Army badge and beneath it a brief tribute to Catherine Booth followed by her universal sobriquet - 'The Army Mother'.

As with many statues, it has arguably acquired a certain irony in the fullness of time, for it is situated but a few steps from the plinth at which the celebrated Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football game is put into motion each year.

That fine traditon is one in which boisterous behaviour and the copious consumption of alcoholic refreshment play a great part - considering Catherine's passionate belief in temperance one can only say 'oh dear' and be thankful that the Memorial Park in which Catherine enjoys 'rest eternal' is off-limits to the game itself.

Catherine Booth died aged 61 at Clacton-on-Sea on 4 October 1890, and is buried in Abney Park Cemetery, London.

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County:  Derbyshire