George Williams (YMCA)
Sir George Williams (11 October 1821 – 6 November 1905), was the founder of the YMCA.
Williams was born on a farm in Dulverton, Somerset, England. [1] As a young man, he described himself as a "careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow". After an accident, his family sent him to Bridgwater to be an apprentice at a draper's shop. In 1837, Williams was converted. He went to the Zion Congregational Church and became an involved member. [2]
In 1841, he went to London and worked again in a draper's shop. After 3 years, in 1844, was promoted to department manager. He married the boss’s daughter, Helen Jane Maunder Hitchcock in 1853. Williams become a member of the Weigh House Congregational Church and use his time for evangelization.
Appalled by the terrible conditions in London for young working men, he gathered a group of his fellow drapers together to create a place that would not tempt young men into sin. That place was the YMCA, which he founded in 1844.[3] One of the earliest converts and contributors to the new association was George's employer, George Hitchcock.
Williams was knighted in 1894 by Queen Victoria. After his death in 1905, he was commemorated by a stained-glass window in the nave of Westminster Abbey. Sir George Williams is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.
References
Sources
- Binfield, Clyde George Williams and the Y.M.C.A.: a Study in Victorian Social Attitudes 1973 London, Heinemann ISBN 0-434-07090-4
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