Eva Evelyn Burrows AC OF (1929-2015) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

General Eva Evelyn Burrows AC OF

Born 15 Sep 1929 in Tighes Hill, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Daughter of Robert John Burrows and Ella Marie (Watson) Burrows

Sister of Beverley John Guthrie Burrows, Walter Livingstone Burrows, Robert Bramwell Guthrie Burrows, Bramwell Oram Burrows, Elizabeth Ella (Guthrie Burrows) Sunderland [half] and Margaret (Burrows) Southwell

Died 20 Mar 2015 at age 85 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

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Profile last modified 25 Jan 2024 | Created 10 Aug 2019

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1 Biography
2 Sources
3 See also

Biography

Preceded by
Jarl Holger Wahlström

Evangeline "Eve" Burrows AC OF
13th General of
The Salvation Army

1986 - 1993

Succeeded by
Bramwell Harold Tillsley

"A beautiful elegant lady
yet she spent so much time sharing with homeless people.
They truly felt the love of God and respected their General Eva."
– Salvation Army chaplain Alison Platt

Eva Burrows AC OF is Notable.

General Eve Burrows AC OF was an Australian Salvation Army Officer from 1951 to 1993 and was, from 1986, the 13th General of the Salvation Army, a five-year term was extended a further two years because of her excellent record and achievements. Even those with little or no interest in religion have been affected by this unusually capable and wise Australian, whose life has made a genuine difference for good in the world. She could have made her mark in any pursuit, but instead poured out her life in the service of Christ and The Salvation Army.

Formative years

Eva Evelyn Burrows was born on 15th September 1929 at Tighes Hill, a Newcastle suburb, New South Wales, Australia. Known as Eve within the family, she was the fourth daughter and eighth of nine children of Robert Burrows and Ella Watson, both Salvation Army Officers. With her parents' itinerant life-style, Eva's primary schooling was interrupted, she completed her secondary education at Brisbane State High School, where she was selected as a prefect and Head Girl. Three of her four brothers served in the Second World War while she was at school. From the age of seventeen, she attended the University of Queensland and received her Bachelor of Arts in May 1950 with majors in English and History. ^[1]

Eva Burrows at International Youth Congress

The Salvation Army

In 1950, Eva entered The Salvation Army's International Training College in London; being commissioned as a Salvation Army Officer in 1951. After studying at London University to be a teacher she served at the Howard Institute in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1952 to 1967, was Principal of the Usher Institute from 1966 to 1970, and served at the International College for Officers, at The Cedars, Sydenham Hill, London, from 1970 to 1975, first as Assistant Principal, then as Principal. ^[2]

Continuing to influence humanitarian and evangelistic mission internationally, Eva was appointed the leader of the Salvation Army's Social Services for Women in Great Britain in 1975, leader of the Salvation Army's work in Sri Lanka in 1977, leader of the Salvation Army's work in Scotland in 1980, and then she 'came home' in 1982 as leader of the Salvation Army's work in the Australian Southern Territory. ^[2]

In 1986, at 56 years, General Burrows became the Salvation Army’s youngest commander. In recognition of this high achievement, Eva was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) that year. ^[3] Eva was just the second woman to be appointed General, after Evangeline Booth, daughter of the founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth. During her term as the leader of the Salvation Army – the highest ecclesiastical position held by any woman in the world – she proved highly effective, directing operations in some ninety countries, actively opposing apartheid in South Africa, and re-awakening the Army’s founding spirit of evangelism by leading it back into Eastern Europe after the fall of communism. Her five-year term as General was extended a further two years because of her excellent record and achievements. ^[2]

"Eva didn’t just advocate for the poor, she truly cared for them."
– Anthony N Castle, interviewer

Retirement

In 1993, Henry Gariepy released Eve's biography, General of God's Army the Authorized Biography of General Eva Burrows. ^[1]

Eva's appointment to the Order of Australia was raised to Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1994 'for service to the temporal and spiritual welfare of the community and to social justice as the world leader of the Salvation Army' ^[4] and, in 2001, she was awarded the Centenary Medal 'for service to the Australian community'. ^[5]

Later in life Eva continued active salvation warfare, completing a ten-year post on the Board of the International Bible Society in 2005 and right up until her death she also worked at The Salvation Army 614 Project in Melbourne which caters specifically for the homeless. ^[6]

For Eva Burrows, her commitment to the Salvation Army was for life, though she admitted that were she to live her life again there was one thing she might change: "I am called to this ministry, and a life of celibacy is something that I have chosen. But [if I did it again] the only thing that would interest me would be marriage, because I’m a normal human being." ^[7]

Eva Burrows passed away, aged 85 years, on 20th March 2015 at the Coppin Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, surrounded by loved ones. ^[2] She was survived by her younger sister, Margaret Southwell, and nieces and nephews. Major Brendan Nottle paid tribute: "General Eva Burrows was the absolute epitome of what it means to be a true Salvation Army Officer." ^[6] Just three months later, Eva was posthumously awarded the highest honour of the Salvation Army, the Order of the Founder (OF), in a ceremony at London, celebrating 150 years of the Salvation Army. ^[2]

General Eva Burrows

Honours and awards

Eva Burrows was deservedly recognised in several ways for spiritual welfare of the community and social justice: ^[2]

Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), 1986
Honorary Doctor of Liberal Arts at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, 1988
Honorary LLD from Asbury University in the USA, 1988.
Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland, 1993
Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), 1994
Living Legacy Award from the Women's International Center, United States of America, 1996
Centenary Medal, 2001
inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women, 2001
inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame, 2012
Order of the Founder, the highest honour of the Salvation Army, 2015

The Salvation Army's Australian training colleges have been re-named Eva Burrows College, with campuses in Melbourne, Sydney and the New South Wales Central Coast. ^[8]