Henrietta Soltau

Henrietta Soltau (8 December 1843 – 5 February 1934) was a British evangelist and promoter of missionary work.

Life Soltau was born in 1843 in Plymouth. She was the eldest but one of the eight children of Henry William and Lucy Soltau. When she was ten in August 1854 she was baptised by the Plymouth Brethren evangelist pastor Robert Chapman. Her father was a teacher for the Plymouth Brethren and a writer. She and her sisters, Lucy and Agnes, were her father's assistants at his outdoor meetings. She recalls how enthusiastic her father was after hearing James Hudson Taylor talk and immediately began organising for him to talk at his meeting. After they heard him talk then it was decided that Agnes would not become a missionary but Henrietta would and Agnes would support her. Henrietta volunteered with her family's support. Her father and her brothers became Taylor's supporters.

George Brealey was a tract writer and well regarded Plymouth Brethren. Soltau and her sister were soon helping him after the family had moved to Exeter.

In 1882 when she nearly forty she had a spiritual event known as a "second blessing" and she was then established with the Plymouth Brethren. Before this her father had allowed her to preach but only in the fresh air or in the meeting room. Soltau decide to help with the children of the missionaries who required a home. She set up a home for them in Tottenham. In time this moved to Hastings, where Soltau also created a branch of the YWCA, a holiday home and she delivered evangelistic services at the Railway Mission Hall.