Dame Ruth Railton (14 December 1915 – 23 February 2001) was a British

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

and conductor. After St. Mary's School, Wantage, and the Royal Academy of Music, she became director of music or choral work for several schools including St. Catherine’s, Bramley. She founded the

National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (NYO-GB) is the national youth orchestra of the United Kingdom, consisting of 164 members of ages 13 to 19 years. Their mission is to "give thrilling experiences of orchestral music to teenage musicia ...

in 1948. She was an adjudicator of the Federation of Music Festivals from 1946-74. She was created a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1966. She was one of four daughters and one son, David, born to the Rev

David Railton The Reverend David Railton MC (13 November 1884 – 30 June 1955) was a Church of England clergyman, a military chaplain and the originator of the idea of the Tomb of The Unknown Warrior in Britain. Early life Railton was the son of George Scot ...

, the son of

George Scott Railton George Scott Railton (6 July 1849 – 19 July 1913) was a Scottish-born Christian missioner who was the first Commissioner in The Salvation Army, Commissioner of The Salvation Army.Railton on the Salvation Army International Heritage Centre ...

, who was second in command of

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and

Catherine Booth Catherine Booth (''née'' Mumford, 17 January 1829 – 4 October 1890) was co-founder of The Salvation Army, along with her husband William Booth. Because of her influence in the formation of The Salvation Army she was known as the 'Mothe ...

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

. In 1962, she married

Cecil Harmsworth King Cecil Harmsworth King (20 February 1901 – 17 April 1987) was Chairman of Daily Mirror Newspapers, Sunday Pictorial Newspapers and the International Publishing Corporation (1963–1968), and a director at the Bank of England (1965–1968). Bio ...

; he died in 1987 at their home in Dublin, where they had relocated. After his death, she became patron of the Cecil King Award for the Young Manager of the Year, promoted jointly by the Irish Management Institute, the Institute of Management in Northern Ireland and ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''.Obituary: Dame Ruth Railton
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (1 March 2001); accessed 13 April 2016.Obituary
telegraph.co.uk; accessed 13 April 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Railton, Ruth 1915 births 2001 deaths Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Conductors (music) awarded knighthoods Place of birth missing Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music People educated at St Mary’s School, Wantage People educated at Heathfield School, Ascot 20th-century conductors (music)