My father, Phil Riley, who has died aged 68 after suffering a stroke, was a chartered public finance accountant and historian. History was a lifelong love for him alongside his career and family. While slightly ambivalent about accountancy as a profession, he was a proud public servant, committed to good governance.
He was born in Widnes, Cheshire. His start in life was not easy, and when Phil was 12, he and his sister, Gillian, went to live with his grandparents. He attended Fairfield school and Birkdale school, both in Southport, and then sat his A-levels at Southport Technical College (now Southport College). He moved to London in 1971 to study humanities at the University of Greenwich, and in 1973 he married Gill Coppelov.
Moving back to the north-west in 1974, Phil trained as a public finance accountant and auditor with Lancashire county council, before moving to Sefton and Formby health authority, Knowsley metropolitan borough council and finally Merseyside police authority. Within these institutions he cut an unusual figure. Bearded, pipe-smoking and softly spoken, he was known to quote Beatles lyrics in meetings.
He believed that excellent public institutions, especially education and libraries, were a universal entitlement. He was until recently a Labour party member and once stood as a Labour council candidate.
His personal passion was history and he studied part-time for a master’s degree and then a PhD, the latter focusing on 19th-century white-collar crime. He was widely read, with a deep knowledge of Victorian thinkers and an especial fondness for John Ruskin, whose combination of interests in socialism, art and nature reflected his own. He was happiest in the Lake District and often visited Ruskin’s house, Brantwood, overlooking Coniston Water.
Phil retired in 2009 and found fulfilment in gardening, travelling, reading and cooking, and working as an honorary member of staff at Broadhurst’s bookshop in Southport.
He had a series of mini-strokes in 2015 that were mild enough for him to have another four years of happy and active life. A sudden and severe stroke ended his life.
He is survived by Gill, their two sons, Stephen and me, and two grandchildren, Joe and Ella, and by Gillian.
