Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Railton, William
RAILTON, WILLIAM (d. 1877), architect, was a pupil of William Inwood [q. v.] In 1825 he visited Greece, and on his way examined the recently discovered temple at Cadachio in Corfu, his description of which was published in Stuart and Revett's ‘Antiquities of Athens,’ 1830. He obtained a large practice, and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy between 1829 and 1851. From 1838 to 1848 he held the appointment of architect to the ecclesiastical commissioners. Railton built Randalls, near Leatherhead, in 1830; Gracedieu, Leicestershire, 1834; St. Bartholomew's Church, Mile End, 1844; St. Leonard's Church, Bromley-by-Bow, 1843, and Beau Manor, Leicestershire, 1845. He was also employed upon restorations at Ripon Cathedral, adapted and enlarged Riseholme Hall as a palace for the bishop of Lincoln, 1846, and built the residence of the bishop of Ripon, 1849. But his best known work is the Nelson memorial in Trafalgar Square, London, his design for which was accepted after two competitions in 1839, and carried out in spite of strong opposition; the column itself was completed in 1843, and the bas-reliefs which adorn the four sides of the plinth in 1849. Railton died while on a visit to Brighton on 13 Oct. 1877.
[Dict. of Architecture; Civil Engineer, 1839; Art Union, 1839; Times, 16 Oct. 1877.]