George Williams

ABOUT GEORGE WILLIAMS

Entrepreneur best remembered for founding the YMCA in 1844.

He worked in a draper's shop in London where the working conditions for young men horrified him.

He was a very devout Christian and founded the YMCA as a place where men could go to not sin.

In 1853, he married Helen Jane Maunder Hitchcock. He had one son, Christopher.

He was knighted by Queen Victoria , the great-great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II .