Yesterday I did my first interview volunteering with the Waltham Forest oral history workshop.  My interview was for the  St James street  project. I interviewed a lady who lived near St James street her whole life and was born in the house we did the interview in. It was great to hear her stories of evacuation and annotates of singing in Granada cinema (Mirth in Walthamstow), the palace theatre (which no longer stands) and a local Woolworths. 

William and Catherine Booth were ​Methodist ministers who traveled the country sharing the gospel. They had no intention of setting up a separate domination however gained a following through their engaging sermons. They came to Whitechapel, London in 1865 and converted an old Pub called "The Eastern Star" into a Church/ Corp temple. They adopted the  imagery from popular culture using the format of theater posters to advertise their meetings. They also used Brass Bands and music hall entertainment to attract people. Leading to them adopting army terms which was a popular subject matter in theater shows due to the political climate.  

They also allowed different classes and women as well as men to preach, take leadership roles, lead social action initiatives and play in brass bands. This created interest from people who didn't feel as though they had a place in other church services. However ignited riots amongest the middle classes who lost business from convents, the most notable riots against the salvation army were in Worthing and Hastings. However the Salvation Army still grew  ​internationally. 

I spent this morning in Chelmsford, Essex at Essex Record office listening to a talk about Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick. Born Frances Evelyn in 1861, Daisy Greville inherited her family's fortune aged three years old making her a British Socialite. Daisy had a house in Walthamstow as well as her main estate Easton logue. As a character the countess of Warwick was something of a vixen having countless extra Marital affairs including the then Prince of Wales. However after a heated exchange with Robert Blatchford in Fleet Street its said she went from "Socialite to Socialist" providing opportunities for education to people in poverty and  pioneering free school meals which lives on.

The audience was filled with people who were directly effected by Daisy's philanthropy. One gentlemen explained Daisy gave his family £10 (a lot back then) which went towards sending his father on an apprenticeship which in turn lead to the gentlemen following in his father's footsteps as an Engineer. Although Daisy did great work in the community she also party hard and  died penniless. It was said by one of her friend's about money "The spending of it we knew everything however the making we knew nothing."  Below is a popular song sang in pubs and dance halls of the time about the Countess of Warwick.