John Athelstan Laurie Riley (10 August 1858 – 17 November 1945) was an English

hymn writer A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

and hymn translator. St Petroc Minor's Church 09

Riley was born in

Paddington, London Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddingto ...

, and attended

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, where obtained his BA in 1881 and MA in 1883. Active in the

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

wing of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and a member of the

Alcuin Club The Alcuin Club is an Anglican organization seeking to preserve or restore church ceremony, arrangement, ornament, and practice in an orthodox manner. The organization was founded in 1897 and named after Alcuin of York. It was a reorganization of ...

, he energised the development of ''

The English Hymnal ''The English Hymnal'' is a hymn book which was published in 1906 for the Church of England by Oxford University Press. It was edited by the clergyman and writer Percy Dearmer and the composer and music historian Ralph Vaughan Williams, and was ...

'' (1906) and was chairman of its editorial board. His best-known hymn is "

Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones "Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones" () is a popular Christian hymn with text by Athelstan Riley, first published in the ''English Hymnal'' (1906). It is sung to the German tune ' (1623). Its uplifting melody and repeated "Alleluias" make this a favou ...

". He also created an English adaption of the

eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

ic hymn " O Esca Viatorum". In 1887, he married Andalusia Louisa Charlotte Georgina Molesworth, daughter of Samuel Molesworth, 8th

Viscount Molesworth Viscount Molesworth, of Swords in the County of Dublin, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1716 for Robert Molesworth. He was made Lord Molesworth, Baron of Philipstown, of King's County, at the same time, also in the Peerage ...

. The youngest son

Quintin Riley Quintin Theodore Petroc Molesworth Riley (27 October 1905 – 25 December 1980) was a British Arctic explorer who was awarded the Polar Medal. Biography Quintin Riley was born in 1905 in Little Petherick, Cornwall, the youngest son of the emine ...

was born in 1905 in Little Petherick, Cornwall. Pits pliaque La Hougue Bie

Riley's London house, at 2 Kensington Court, contained an altarpiece by

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

, a major designer of Anglo-Catholic church furnishings. He held the

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...

of St Peter ad Vincula,

Coveney, Cambridgeshire Coveney is a village northwest of Ely in Cambridgeshire. Coveney is on a small Fen 'island' rising to above sea level, some west from Ely city as the crow flies, but nearly twice that distance by the main road. The village is situated on a ...

from 1883 and furnished the church. St Peter ad Vincula, Coveney - Sanctuary - geograph

Later in his life, he moved to

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

in the Channel Islands, where he purchased Trinity Manor in 1909, thereby acquiring the feudal title of ''Seigneur de La Trinité''. Finding the manor house in a ruined condition, he undertook an elaborate restoration (or "imaginative reconstruction", which has been criticized as turning the building into a French-style château). The reconstruction was carried out 1910–1913 by C. Messervy to designs by Sir

Reginald Blomfield Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period. Early life and career Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...

. Riley also bought the historic property L'Ancienneté in

Saint Brélade St. Brelade (French: ''Saint Brélade'') is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It is around west of St Helier. Its population was 10,568 as of 2011. The parish is the second-largest parish by surface area, covering 7 ...

, and removed architectural features of interest to incorporate into Trinity Manor, carefully recording the provenance of items and nature of alterations made in his project.''Old Jersey Houses'', Joan Stevens, 1965 He remained in Jersey through the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, and died shortly after its liberation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Athelstan Church of England hymnwriters People from Trinity, Jersey 1858 births 1945 deaths Members of the London School Board English Anglo-Catholics Jersey Anglicans