Charles Owen Leaver Riley (26 May 1854 – 23 June 1929) was the first Anglican Archbishop of Perth, Western Australia.
Early years Riley was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, the eldest child of the Reverend Lawrence William Riley, the vicar of St Cross, Knutsford, England, and his wife Emma, née Shaw. Riley was educated at Heversham Grammar School and Owen's College, Manchester, and Caius College, Cambridge. He obtained his B.A. in 1878, his M.A. in 1881, and received an honorary D.D. in 1894. In 1878 he was ordained as a deacon in 1878, and in 1879 he was ordained as a priest. He was curate at East Bierley, Yorkshire from 1878 to 1880, Bradford from 1880 to 1882, and Lancaster from 1882 to 1885. He became vicar of St Paul's, Preston, in 1885, a position he held for nine years.
Archbishop of Perth In 1894 Riley was appointed Bishop of Perth.
Riley arrived in Western Australia on 3 February 1895. He led the church's efforts to take over Guildford Grammar School, but frequently came into conflict with Percy Henn, the school's headmaster. He was also noted for his close association with Sir John Winthrop Hackett in working for the establishment of the University of Western Australia. He became senior chaplain of the Australian Military Forces in Western Australia and chaplain-general in 1913. Riley toured the UK, France & Egypt for 3½ months in late 1916 early 1917 enquiring into the administration of each theatre's Chaplain's Dept, returning to Australia in February 1917.AWM B2455, C.O.L Riley's Service Record, Canberra
Personal life Riley married Elizabeth Merriman on 7 January 1886; subsequently they had three daughters and three sons. One of his sons, Charles Lawrence Riley (born 1888) became the Bishop of Bendigo in Victoria.
Riley was active in freemasonry, in both English and Australian jurisdictions. In 1897 in the United Grand Lodge of England he was granted the honorific rank of Past Grand Chaplain in recognition of his services to English Freemasonry, as part of a series of similar honorary promotions intended to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. In Australian Freemasonry he is particularly notable as the longest serving Grand Master of the Western Australian Grand Lodge. He held this position from 1904 until his death, with the exception of a three-year term (1917–1920) by Sir William Ellison-Macartney.
References
Further reading
Battye, J. S. The Cyclopedia of Western Australia
Wilson, J. G. Western Australia's Centenary; Crockford, 1929. The Westralian, 24 and 25 June 1929;
External links