ARCHIVAL ANECDOTES
‘I AM A PART OF ALL THAT I HAVE MET’ PROFILE: BISHOP CHARLES LAWRENCE RILEY CBE IT WAS ONLY THROUGH THE VISION, DRIVE AND SHEER HARD WORK OF ONE MAN THAT THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND GIRLS’ SCHOOL, ST MARY’S WEST PERTH DID NOT BECOME A ‘NINE DAY WONDER’, AS DID MANY SMALL SCHOOLS STARTED IN THE FIRST DECADES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THAT MAN WAS THE NEWLY APPOINTED RECTOR OF ST MARY’S, WEST PERTH, THE REVEREND CHARLES LAWRENCE RILEY.
ABOVE (L-R): CL Riley at 6 years in Preston 1894; whilst Captain of Hale School c.1905; ordained as a priest 1914 OPPOSITE PAGE: Appointed Bishop of Bendigo 1938.
C
harles, known as Tom, was born in 1888 in Preston, Lancashire, where his father was Rector of St Paul’s Church. When Charles was eight, his father was appointed Bishop of Perth and the family moved to Western Australia in 1895. Having settled into Bishop’s House, situated on St Georges Terrace and with a garden running down to the river, the Riley children (Charles had two brothers and three sisters) had plenty of opportunity for adventure in their new environment. At the age of eleven, Charles was sent to Perth High School, now known as Hale School, where he excelled both academically and on the sports field. During his time there he was Senior Prefect, played cricket
and football for the school and, in 1905, won a Government University Scholarship of £450. In 1906, Charles returned to England to study at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. There his performance was even more impressive than it had been at school, with a BA in Classics in 1909, LLB in 1910 and an MA in 1913. In sport, he rowed in the College First Boat, played first eleven hockey, was in the Cambridge ‘Wanderers’ soccer second eleven, and the tennis second six. He was also Captain of ’C’ Company, Officer Training Corps. Back in Western Australia, Charles spent 1911 teaching at Guildford Grammar School, before returning to England in 1912 to be ordained a Deacon in Lichfield Cathedral. Two
years later he was ordained Priest, again in Lichfield Cathedral, and moved back to Perth to become Rector of St Hilda’s, North Perth parish. On 8 March 1916, The West Australian reported, “On February 22, at Moora parish church, a very quiet wedding was celebrated, between the Rev. C.L. Riley (eldest son of the Archbishop and Mrs. Riley) and Miss Lucile M. Lefroy (second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.S. Lefroy, of Moora). …Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Riley eventually left for Perth, in a sidecar, already well known to his Perth friends. Mr. Riley, who is in charge of the parish of St Hilda’s, North Perth, is doing splendid work, and is much beloved by his parishioners.”
BISHOP CHARLES 46 FIDELITER Archival Anecdotes
