The Riley Family: BTC Regulars

The Riley family stands out on the roster of Bible Training College students.

Four members of the Riley family attended Oswald Chambers’ classes.

One is particularly significant, Mary Riley, and she will get her own blog post.

But the other three also did interesting work following attendance at the Bible Training College (BTC).

We’ll examine Kate, Arthur and Nellie’s work for God.

The Riley family as a whole

William and Rose Jane Carter Riley produced a dozen children between 1873 and 1891; five sons and seven daughters.

The family lived on the Warren Farm in Writtle, Essex where William worked as a coachman for James Christy, Esq.

Christy was a vice president of the East of England Temperance League in 1869 and he may have influenced the family’s faith. The second Riley son George Edwin eventually became a captain in the Salvation Army.

Eventually the family moved to the St. John Woods area of London where William apparently worked for horse dealer Daniel Bloom in 1911.

The sons generally worked as grooms, the girls as cooks, servants or dressmakers.

The Riley family may first have encountered Oswald Chambers through either the League of Prayer or gatherings at Essex Hall–where he often spoke.

Mary, Kate, Arthur and Nellie all became students.

Kate Millicent Riley

Born in 1887, Kate worked as a cook prior to enrolling at the BTC.

We don’t know anything about her experience sitting under Oswald Chambers’ teachings.

However, in 1936, at the age of 49, she set sail from Liverpool to Port Said, Egypt.

Listing herself as a “social worker,” Kate probably joined Miss Katharine Ashe in Cairo.

Why else would an unmarried middle-aged dressmaker sail to Egypt?

Miss Ashe worked a very dangerous job helping prostitutes escape the sex trade and undoubtedly needed help, or at least encouragement.

If so, Kate only lasted a year before returning home to St. John Wood.

All the same, her motivation must have come from her faith–as encouraged through the BTC.

Reverend Arthur Charles Riley

Born in 1883, Arthur worked as a groom probably during his enrollment at the BTC.

Arthur immigrated to British Columbia where he attended college and married in Toronto in 1916.

He and his wife Iva moved to Chicago to pursue a PhD after their marriage. Arthur served as a pastor in Baptist and Methodist parishes for their rest of his life

Their granddaughter wrote that Arthur and Iva’s spiritual influence on her life was powerful.

Ellen Rose “Nellie” Riley

The oldest daughter in the Riley family, Nellie was born in 1875. She served as a deaconess in a Congregational Church in 1911, the year the BTC began.

She wrote of Oswald in the 1934 book Oswald Chambers: His Life and Work:

“My first remembrance of Mr. Chambers was at a meeting in Exeter Hall, and I have never forgotten the words he spoke, or the power with which he spoke them—“If Thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.”

“These words have been the means of helping me go forward to do seemingly impossible things many a time.”

About the BTC,

“One incident is implanted in my mind.

“One morning I felt very unwell but did not say a word to anyone. My place was near Mr. Chambers, and suddenly he leaned forward and whispered, “Psalm 87:7.”

“I did not know the reference, but when I looked it up I realized how wonderfully discerning he was—“All my fresh springs are in Thee.”

“You felt as if he could read you through and through, and many times I have felt ashamed of my failings in his presence.”

Nellie traveled the farthest in both culture and geography after her BTC studies.

Only 4 feet 11 inches tall, she sailed alone to Shanghai from London in March 1920. Nellie served in Western China with the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association.

Her BTC friend Gladys Ingram Donnithorne also worked in the region and the two probably saw each other from time to time.

Originally listed as a voluntary worker in Tungchwan (now called Dongchuan; in the general area of Chung King in southwestern China), she served at other missionary sites and a hospital as needed.

Working with children

By the early 1930’s, Nellie ran an orphanage in Tungliang.

In 1936, she wrote an appeal that appeared in the West China Missionary News, asking for help in moving the orphanage to a safer place.

Her description tells of the challenges she faced serving Chinese orphans during the years prior to the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

“Our house is not healthy, the children are constantly ill. We need a place where we can keep a cow, goats and grow our own vegetables, as well as a drying ground and playground for the children.

“Where we are, we have a tiny garden which is always full of washing. This is not a very cheerful view.

“If the children are poorly, we can only put them outside in the midst of washing!

“We would like to be near a doctor in case of sickness, where we could get help in a few hours, instead of best part of two days. Also, not too far away from other missionaries; near Chengtu or Chung King seems suitable to us.”

Someone had already donated 50 pounds toward the move.

Her commitment to her calling remained true, 20 years after leaving the BTC.

“We want the orphanage to be a center for the spread of a full salvation, and we are prepared to do all in our power to make Jesus Christ known to those who know Him not.

“I remain yours in joyful service.”

Nellie left China in 1939, traveling to North America to see her brother Arthur and his family, before returning to England.

With the Chinese Revolution sealing off the nation, she remained in St. John Woods until her death in October 1959.

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