Cartoon by Herbert Woodhouse depicting a 'noisy' Salvation Army band at Gawler in 1883.

General William Booth, a Methodist minister, founded his 'Christian Mission' in London in 1865. In 1878 this was re-named the Salvation Army. The first Australian meeting of the Salvation Army was held in Adelaide, in Botanic Park, in September 1880. This followed the meeting of two Englishmen, Edward Saunders and John Gore, through the outdoor evangelistic meetings of Matthew Burnett. Saunders had previously heard Gore give his 'testimony' at one of Burnett's lively revival meetings. The Army initially met in Adelaide in the Labour League Hall in Hindley Street and in White's Rooms. Following the arrival of Captain and Mrs Sutherland to take charge of the local body in 1881, a building in Light Square was rented for the 'barracks'.

The movement grew rapidly and by the mid 1890s had 65 'corps' and 75 'outposts' across South Australia. Initially there was a lot of opposition, particularly from the media. The Moonta meeting was taken to court by the editor of the Yorke's Peninsula Advertiser in 1883. Politician, Alexander Hay, declared in Parliament in 1884 that, 'the Salvationists should be required to conduct themselves like Christians, and not as though they were rowdy drunken people.' This cartoon from 1883 demonstrates the bemused attitude of the general public at the time.

Booth, William, 1829-1912

Burnett, Matthew, 1839-

Gore, John

Hay, Alexander, 1820-1898

Saunders, Edward

Sutherland, Thomas

Salvation Army. Gawler Corps

Salvation Army. Moonta Corps

Yorke's Peninsula advertiser

Calder, WC. 'The Salvation Army by W.C.C.', Unsourced newspaper clipping in the Papers of WC Calder

Nicholls, William T. The Royal Blood-washed, 1880-1980: a history of the first hundred years of the Adelaide Congress Hall Corps, [Adelaide: Adelaide Congress Hall Corps], 1987

South Australia. Parliament. Parliamentary debates South Australia (Hansard), Adelaide: Government Printer, 1857-

Stevenson, Charles. 'Boundless Salvation: the rise of the Salvation Army in South Australia', Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia,' Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, no. 14 (1986), pp. 123-136