The Bendigo Heritage Project are pleased to take their gallery of images and artwork to the William Booth Memorial Centre in Sneinton.
The entrance to the William Booth Centre and The William Booth Birthplace Museum at Notintone Place. The statue of William Booth stands proud in the courtyard.
William Booth of course is the founder of The Salvation Army.
Bendigo – From Pugilist to Preacher runs Mon – Fri (9-5) until December 1st.
When the Centre Manager Ian Young contacted us about taking our exhibition to the Centre, we had no hesitation in accepting.
Trustee Alan Dawson and Community Manager Ian Young ‘come up to scratch’ after completing the gallery.
Nottingham’s Famous Sons Named William
Both William Booth and William ‘Bendigo’ Thompson lived in the same period, and both were affected by the poverty and suffering of ordinary people.
William Booth attended the Broad Street Wesley Chapel (Methodist) where in 1844 he had a conversion experience, noting that: “It was in the open street [of Nottingham] that this great change passed over me”.
William Thompson (on his retirement) developed a problem with alcohol and he knew that his lifestyle needed to change. That change came in 1872, when he converted, having attended a congregation held by the former coal miner turned preacher named Richard Weaver. This was at The Mechanics Institute on Milton Street in Nottingham.
New to the gallery is a high quality copy of Bendigo, painted in 1850 by Thomas Earl.
The original oil on canvas is owned by the National Portrait Gallery in London.