Catherine Booth (née Mumford, 17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) was co-founder of The Salvation Army, along with her husband William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Mother of The Salvation Army'.

She was born as Catherine Mumford in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, in 1829 to Methodist parents, John Mumford and Sarah Milward. Her father was an occasional lay preacher and carriage maker. Her family later moved to Boston, Lincolnshire, and later lived in Brixton, London. From an early age, Catherine was a serious and sensitive girl. She had a strong Christian upbringing and was said to have read the Bible through eight times before the age of 12.

During Catherine's adolescence a spinal curvature led to years of enforced idleness. She kept herself busy, however, and was especially concerned about the problems of alcoholism. As a young girl she had served as secretary of a Juvenile Temperance Society writing articles for a temperance magazine. Catherine was a member of the local Band of Hope and a supporter of the national Temperance Society.

When Catherine refused to condemn Methodist Reformers in 1850, the Wesleyan Methodists expelled her. For the Reformers she led a girls' Sunday school class in Clapham. At the home of Edward Rabbits, in 1851, she met William Booth, who had also been expelled by the Wesleyans for reform sympathies. William was reciting a temperance poem, "The Grog-seller’s Dream", which appealed to Catherine, who had embraced the new Methodist passion for abstinence.

They soon fell in love and became engaged. During their three-year engagement, Catherine constantly wrote letters of encouragement to William as he performed the tiring work of a preacher. They were married on 16 June 1855 at Stockwell Green Congregational Church in London. Their wedding was very simple as they wanted to use their time and money for his ministry. Even on their honeymoon, William was asked to speak at meetings.

The Booths had eight children: Bramwell Booth, Ballington Booth, Kate Booth, Emma Booth, Herbert Booth, Marie Booth, Evangeline Booth and Lucy Booth, and were dedicated to giving them a firm Christian knowledge. Two of their offspring, Bramwell and Evangeline, later became Generals of The Salvation Army.

Catherine began to be more active in the work of the church at Brighouse. Though she was extremely nervous, she enjoyed working with young people and found the courage to speak in children's meetings. During this period she discovered a model, American Wesleyan revivalist Phoebe Palmer. With William's encouragement, Catherine wrote a pamphlet, Female Ministry: Woman’s Right to Preach the Gospel (1859), in defense of American preacher Mrs. Phoebe Palmer's preaching, whose preaching had caused a great stir in the area where the Booths lived. Female Ministry was a short, powerful apology for women's rights to preach the gospel. The pamphlet identifies three major principles on which her convictions rested. First, Catherine saw that women are neither naturally nor morally inferior to men. Second, she believed there was no scriptural reason to deny them a public ministry. Third, she maintained that what the Bible urged, the Holy Spirit had ordained and blessed and so must be justified. She complained that the "unjustifiable application" of Paul's advice, “ 'Let your women keep silence in the Churches' (1 Corinthians 14:34), has resulted in more loss to the Church, evil to the world, and dishonor to God, than any of [its] errors".

At that time, it was unheard of for women to speak in adult meetings. She was convinced that women had an equal right to speak. In January 1860, following the birth of their fourth child, at Gateshead, during William's sermon, she asked to "say a word". She witnessed to her timidity about claiming her calling, yet William announced that she would speak that night. It was the beginning of a tremendous ministry, as people were greatly challenged by her preaching.