THE man who took the Salvation Army to the United States is to be honoured in his home town thousands of miles away.
George Railton, born in Arbroath, Angus, in 1849 and who became the first "national commander" of the charity in the US, will have a commemorative plaque unveiled in his name at St John's Methodist Church in the town.
A similar memorial already stands in Battery Park, New York.
Mr Railton lost both his parents when he was 15 years old and left Arbroath for work in London. He joined the Salvation Army there and travelled to New York in 1880 to start its first mission in the US.
The Salvation Army claims it is now the second-biggest charity in the US, with 123,843 members.
Major Jim McCluskey, former commanding officer of the charity in Arbroath, said: "Railton is one of Arbroath's most famous sons and his role in the Salvation Army cannot be overestimated. Without him, I don't think it would exist in the form it does today.
"We are absolutely delighted to be involved in a project which will bring new recognition to such an important figure. The Railton family history extends beyond our shores and is something which Angus can be very proud of."
The charity operates in 125 countries and has around 800 centres in the UK and Ireland. It said it helps around 30 million people in the US every year with social services such as providing food and shelter for homeless people, giving relief to disaster victims and caring for elderly people.
Commissioner William Roberts, leader of the Salvation Army in the US, said the charity will always be grateful to the work of Mr Railton
"His bold leadership immediately captured the attention of the American public and his organisational skills cast a sure foundation for the army that still profits us to the present day," he said.
"I am stirred by the example of unflagging dedication and I am honoured to wear with pride the uniform that he first modelled when he landed at Battery Park in New York City in 1880."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article