Railton, George Scott (1849-1913)

Major figure in early formation of the Salvation Army

Born of Wesleyan missionary parents in Arbroath, Scotland, Railton was drawn to William Booth’s Christian Mission in 1873 by its militant evangelism, and was instrumental in the mission’s transition in 1878 to the Salvation Army. In 1880 he was appointed by Booth to head a mission to the United States; subsequently he provided leadership in Germany and France. From 1885 onward he traveled indefatigably on every continent as Booth’s mendicant ambassador, reconnoitering new mission fields with what Bramwell Booth called the “restless, fearless, struggling spirit of advance.” A prime contributor to the constitutive doctrinal statement of the Army and its earliest Orders and Regulations, Railton championed a strongly Wesleyan theology, an aggressive, unconventional mode of evangelism, the equality of women in ministry, and the sacramentalization of the whole of life. He believed the Army to be a modern adaptation of St. Francis’s Little Brothers of the Poor, ordained for self-denying toil at the world’s margins. A leader of uncommon learning and linguistic gifts among his contemporaries, Railton transmuted popular jingoism into impassioned Christian internationalism expressed by the lyrics of his many songs. Most importantly, perhaps, he proved a faithful–and somewhat critical–friend of the founders, a stubborn custodian of “the one great aim” in the Army’s burgeoning array of human services. “The life of a soul-saver,” he wrote, “is the grandest, merriest, strangest life that can be lived on earth.” He died at a Cologne railway station while on a preaching tour in Germany.

Lyell M. Rader, Jr., “Railton, George Scott,” in Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, ed. Gerald H. Anderson (New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 1998), 556.

This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright © 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of Macmillan Reference USA, New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Bibliography

Digital Primary

Railton, George S. The Authoritative Life of General William Booth, Founder of the Salvation Army. New York: Hodder & Stoughton, George H. Doran Co, 1912.

_____. Captain Ted: Being the Life Story of Captain Edward Irons, of the Salvation Army, Largely Written with His Own Hand. London: Salvation Army Stores, 1880.

_____ Heathen England and What to Do for It: Being a Description of the Utterly Godless Condition of the Vast Majority of the English Nation, and of the Establishment, Growth, System, and Success of an Organization for Its Regeneration, Consisting of Working People Under the Superintendence of William Booth. London: S.W. Partridge, 1877.

Primary

Railton, George S. Commissioner Dowdle: The Saved Railway Guard and First Commissioner of the Salvation Army, Promoted to Glory. New York City: Salvation Army Pub. House, 1901.

_____. Gideon Ouseley: An Old-Time Irish Salvationist. London: Salvation Arm Book Dept, 1904.

_____. The History of Our South African War. London: Salvation Army Book Department, 1901.

_____. Lieut.-Col. Jacob Junker of Germany. London: Salvation Army Pub. Dept, 1903.

_____. Madame Jeanne De La Mothe Guyon: Educated in Convents, Saved at the Foot of the Cross, Sanctified in Notre Dame, Witnessing for Jesus in the Court of Louis XIV., in France, Switzerland, and Italy, to Bishops, Priest, Nuns, and Common People, Imprisoned for Seven Years, Fighting, Talking, Writing, and Praying Her Way Through It All to Glory, and All Other Particulars, for One Penny. London: Salvation Army Headquarters, 1881.

_____. The Salvation Navy: Being an Account of the Life, Death & Victories of Captain John Allen, of the Salvation Army. London: International Headquarters, 1890.

_____. The Salvation Paper Mill. London: Salvation Army Book Store, 1878.

_____. Twenty-One Years’ Salvation Army. Under the Generalship of William Booth. London: International Headquarters, 1889.

_____. Women’s Social Work. Talks with Rescuers: Being a Review of the Work During 1898, Under Direction of Mrs. Bramwell Booth. With Statements of Accounts. London: The Salvation Army, 1898.

Railton, George S., and John D. Waldron. G.S.R.: Selections from Published and Unpublished Writings of George Scott Railton. S.l: s.n., 1981.

Secondary

Douglas, Eileen. Commissioner Railton. London: Salvationist Pub. and Supplies, 1920.

Watson, Bernard. Soldier Saint: George Scott Railton : William Booth’s First Lieutenant. New York: Salvation Army, 1977.

Portrait

Available from the website of the Salvation Army Canada and Bermuda Territory: http://salvationist.ca/2012/10/salvation-army-pioneer-commemorated/george-railton-2/