Charles Booth, Charity Control, and the London Churches, 1897-1903

• Published in: The Historian (Kingston) Vol. 68; no. 3; pp. 489 - 518
• Main Author: Brydon, Thomas R. C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Taylor & Francis 22-09-2006; Blackwell Publishing Inc; Blackwell Publishing; Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Booth, Charles; Charitable organizations; Charity; Christianity; Church charities; Church work; Churches; Clergy; Clerics; Company business management; European history; Historical analysis; History; Literary criticism; Management; Men; Mothers; Philanthropy; Poverty; Qualitative research; Religion; Religious aspects; Religious charities; Social aspects; Social case work; Social work; Victorians; United Kingdom; London England
• ISSN: 0018-2370; 1540-6563
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6563.2006.00156.x

Charles Booth's interviews with a wide range of London's religious and secular leaders about the conditions of poverty during the late 1800s resulted in a book series, Religious Influences--a book many historians dismiss as irrelevant and redundant. A close reading of these interviews tells one as much about church charity as it does about religion in the proof that Booth and his investigators found not only clergyman, but also women and working people enthusiastically engaged in the strict allocation of charity.