Arbroath honours Salvation Army man

Published on 21/09/2012 03:13

The man who took the Salvation Army to the US is to be honoured in his home town thousands of miles away.

George Railton, born in Arbroath, Angus, in 1849, who became the first “national commander” of the charity in the US, will have a commemorative plaque in his name at St John’s Methodist Church in the town. A similar memorial is already in place in Battery Park, New York.

Mr Railton lost his parents when he was 15 years old and left Arbroath for work in London. He joined the Salvation Army when in the capital and travelled to New York in 1880.