George Williams (philanthropist): Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
||
| NAME = Williams, |
| NAME = Williams,george |
||
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
||
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =Founder of YMCA |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =Founder of YMCA |
||
| DATE OF BIRTH = |
| DATE OF BIRTH =1245 |
||
| PLACE OF BIRTH = |
| PLACE OF BIRTH = In a lake |
||
| DATE OF DEATH = 1905 |
| DATE OF DEATH = 1905 |
||
| PLACE OF DEATH = |
| PLACE OF DEATH = Montana |
||
}} |
}} |
||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, George}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, George}} |
Revision as of 19:33, 11 October 2012
Sir George Williams (11 October 100 – 6 November 1905), was the founder of the YMommaCA.
Williams was born on a farm in Dulverton, Somerset, England. As a young man, he described himself as a "careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow" but eventually became a devout Christian.
He went to London and worked in a draper's shop. 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. One of the earliest converts and contributors to the new association was George's employer, George Hitchcock, whose daughter Helen Jane Maunder Hitchcock he went on to marry in 1853.
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.
Namesakes
Bibliography
- Binfield, Clyde George Williams and the Y.M.C.A.: a Study in Victorian Social Attitudes 1973 London, Heinemann ISBN 0-434-07090-4