Memorial details

Memorial type
Board / Plaque / Tablet
District
Oxford
Town
Oxford
County
Oxfordshire
Country
England
Commemoration
Non-Combat Deaths, First World War (1914-1918)
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
60033

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Current location

Cloister wall.
New College
Savile Road
Oxford
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX1 3UA
England

OS Grid Ref: SP 516 067
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
Grey coloured rectangular stone tablet with geometric patterned border. The inscription is inlaid in red capital lettering.
Inscription
FRANK BASIL RILEY, born 20 th September 1893,/ Rhodes Scholar to New College /from Perth, Western Australia, 1912./ BA Oxon 1919, MA 1920./ Served 1914-1918 in 3rd Batt Wilts Regt and in captivity/ in Germany; 1919-1924 in the Education Department in Iraq;/ and in the service of the Times falling victim of an unknown /fate at Chengehow, Honan Province, China, 23 July 1927./ Always his friends remember him as fearless in the/ cause of righteousness and unfailing in daily kindness.
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Riley, Frank Basil
See details
Commemorations
  • Non-Combat Deaths
    Total names on memorial: 1
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 1
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, date of death, regiment, place of death, forenames, occupation, additional, date of birth
    Order of information: Undefined
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 1
    Served and returned: 1
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, date of death, regiment, place of death, forenames, occupation, additional, date of birth
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Tablet
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
Listing information
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Reference
  • SONS OF THIS PLACE COMMEMORATION OF THE WAR DEAD IN OXFORD'S COLLEGES AND INSTITUTIONS by UTECHIN, PATRICIA 64 Source: Image Library UKNIWM Published:ROBERT DUGDALE 1998 OXFORD
  • From Wikipedia- Charles Owen Leaver Riley (26 May 1854 – 23 June 1929) was a clergyman and the first Anglican archbishop of Perth, Western Australia. Riley was born in Birmingham, Warwick, the eldest child of Rev. Lawrence William Riley, vicar of St Cross, Knutsford, England, and his wife Emma, née Shaw.[1] Riley was educated at Heversham Grammar School and Owen's College, Manchester, and Caius College, Cambridge where he graduated B.A. in 1878, M.A. in 1881, and was given the honorary degree of D.D. in 1894.[2] He was ordained deacon in 1878 and priest in 1879, and was curate at Brierly, 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. In 1894 Riley was appointed bishop of Perth, Western Australia, then the largest Anglican diocese in the world, with an area of 1,000,000 square miles (2,600,000 km2) and a scattered population of about 100,000. He was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey on 18 October 1894. Riley arrived in Western Australia on 3 February 1895[1] and found that the diocese had few clergy, little money, and poor means for organizing religious services for the now rapidly increasing population - due largely to the gold rush. He was young and vigorous and quickly made himself acquainted with large areas of his diocese. It was realised that the diocese must be subdivided, but it was not until 1904 that it was found possible to establish the diocese of Bunbury. Other dioceses were subsequently founded in the north-west and the eastern goldfields, and Riley became archbishop of Perth in 1914. With many difficulties Guildford Grammar School was taken over by the Church and firmly established, but frequently came into conflict with the headmaster of the school Percy Henn.[1] He was also noted for his close association with Sir Winthrop Hackett in working for the establishment of the University of Western Australia.[1] He was senior chaplain of the Australian Military Forces in Western Australia in 1913; he became chaplain-general in the same year. Riley toured the UK, France & Egypt for 3 1/2 months in late 1916 early 1917 enquiring into the administration of each theatre's Chaplain's Dept, returning to Australia in February 1917.[3] He was chancellor of the university from 1916 to 1922 and was also president of the trustees of the public library, museum and art gallery at Perth. Riley was active in freemasonry, most notably 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.[1] Riley married Elizabeth Merriman on 7 January 1886; subsequently they had three daughters and three sons.[1] In 1927 one of their sons, Frank Basil Riley, mysteriously disappeared while acting as special correspondent to The Times in China. Riley's usually robust health began to fail, and his impending retirement was announced shortly before his death on 23 June 1929. he was survived by his wife and two sons and three daughters. One of the sons, Charles Lawrence Riley (born 1888) subsequently became Bishop of Bendigo, Victoria.

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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© WMR-60033

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