BY JANE RILEY
Ken was born on 25 June 1940 in Flint, Wales, the only son of Josephine and Arthur Riley – he was made Dean of Manchester in 1993 and continued until his retirement in 2005.
Ken was educated at Holywell Grammar School, then Aberystwyth University, where he read music, then onto Wycliffe College, Oxford where he read Theology. Ordination followed in 1965 in Liverpool Cathedral; he had just made his 60th anniversary of Ordination! His ministry began at Emmanuel Church in Fazakerley, Liverpool, where he met Margaret, his wife of 57 years. After Fazakerley he became Chaplain of Brasted Place College, Sevenoaks, then Oundle School and then Anglican Chaplain at Liverpool University. In 1975 he combined his role as Chaplain of the University, with being Vicar of Mossley Hill. He added to the letterhead as Warden of Readers and Rural Dean. From 1987 he was first, Canon Treasurer and then Canon Precentor at Liverpool Cathedral until 1993. As Precentor he organised many notable services, including a televised service to act as a focal point for the City, exactly one week after the Hillsborough tragedy; memorials too for the Battle of the Atlantic and the Burma Star Organisation were regular features. The more light-hearted highlights earned him the nickname ‘Canon Choreographer’ and included members of the forces abseiling down the inside of the Cathedral tower, balloons being dropped onto the congregation from a net strung across the Nave at celebration services, the massed bands of the Royal Marines beating the retreat and performances of T.S Eliot’s ‘Murder In The Cathedral’ (including ‘Stanley’ a real horse) and the debut of Paul McCartney and Carl Davies ‘Liverpool Oratorio.’
In 1993 he became Dean of Manchester and was pivotal in the link between the Cathedral and the City of Manchester – He was officially recognised as Chaplain of the Greater Manchester Lieutenancy and in 2003 he was awarded the OBE for ‘services to the City of Manchester’ recognising his contribution to the life of the City, in particular, as part of the task force for the regeneration around the Cathedral, after the devastation wrought by the IRA bomb.
His retirement from 2005 was a ‘game of two halves’ – the first half in Scarisbrick, Merseyside, with lots of trips to Australia to see his daughter Kay and grandson Tom and helping with endless parish interregnums. The second half was in Alnwick, Northumberland, nearer to his elder daughter Jane and where he died in Wansbeck Hospital, on a Sunday, the 19 October 2025 – Ken had been struggling with Dementia for several years and died from complications arising from a broken hip. His family had been supporting him at his bedside for many weeks.
A celebration of Ken’s life will be held shortly, date and time to follow.
