William Booth was apprenticed to a pawnbroker at age eleven. He began reading and educated himself so that he could become a minister. Booth wanted to be an evangelist and when the Methodist church kept assigning him to pastoral work he left and began his own ministry. This led to the founding of the Salvation Army. The title In Darkest England was chosen after Booth had heard about the travels of Stanley in darkest Africa. Booth proposes to help the poor in England. He fought for universal social reforms. Some of his ideas included a poor man's bank, model suburban villages, matrimonial counseling, lawyers and white chapel by the sea.