William Edward Riley

William Edward Riley (1852–1937) was a British architect. He worked for twenty-two years in the British Admiralty Works Department from 1877 until 1899 when he had reached the rank of assistant director. He was appointed chief architect to the London County Council in 1899, where he served until 1919. He went into private practice with E B Glanfield until retiring in 1931.

William Edward Riley was born in Yorkshire and educated at Batley Grammar School, with stays in France and Italy. He was articled with William Critchley in Wakefield in 1868. He was there five years, and moved to work with Beck and Lee of Finsbury. In 1877 he joined the staff of the Director of Engineering and Works of the Admiralty. He remained here until 1899, rising to the rank of Assistant Director. He was in charge of works in Chatham and Devonport, among other places, Bermuda, Malta.

In 1899, Thomas Blashill, originally from the Metropolitan Board of Works, retired from the post of chief architect to London County Council. Blashill had built the department from scratch, developing the Housing of the Working Classes Branch in response to the Housing of the Working Classes Act 1890. W. E. Riley was appointed as his successor, with official title of 'Superintending Architect of Metropolitan Buildings and Architect to the London County Council'.

There was a tension among the members and officers of the London County Council on whether the council's function was to enhance London as a world-class city, building monuments that befitted its role as the leading city in the world's greatest empire, or the utilitarian function of providing homes and services and buildings for the poor. The architect department had to provide a balance. The Housing of the Working Classes Branch had achieved some notable firsts: it had produced the Boundary Estate of architect-designed tenement blocks radiating from Arnold Circus—where previous tenements for charities such as the Peabody Trust followed a set plan no matter where they were located. All the blocks survive (except one) and all are now listed buildings as is the street plan and the central park. They also produced Totterdown Fields estate—as the first and model cottage garden estate- and it was Riley who signed off the plans. There was considerable criticism that London County Council architect were doing work that should rightfully be done by the private sector. A RIBA enquiry was set up in 1915 and Riley suggested that the profession was 'overloaded by a sub-stratum of incompetent private members who could not obtain employment'. He continued, 'The routine through which an official must press his work is of such a character that feeble results ... cannot ensue. If outsiders had to encounter the same searching criticism and a tithe of the obstruction, their fees would only about half cover their requirements'

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