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Riddle, Douglas Milne
Full NameRIDDLE, Douglas Milne, O.B.E., B.A.
Date of Birth27 January 1922Date of Death7 August 2016Biography
Doug educated at Woodstock Mission Boarding School India (7 years), Takapuna Grammar School (2½ years), and Auckland University where he gained his Batchelor of Arts Degree (1946).
Doug’s Royal New Zealand Air Force “Wings” awarded at Advanced Flying Training School at Wigram, 1945.
Knox Theological Hall, Dunedin, 1946-1948
Appointed to staff of Punjab Mission, 15 November 1948
Licensed by Presbytery of Auckland 17 November 1948
Ordained for Overseas Missions Service, 9 December 1948; both sailed for India, Kharar 23 December 1948, arrived 31 January 1949
“Own Missionary” of Knox Church, Dunedin
Punjab Mission Language School 1949-1953 (Punjabi, Hindustani and Urdu)
Appointed District Superintendent of the Kharar District of the United Church of Northern India, 1949
“Rev Riddle does evangelistic work among the 250,000 people living in the 600 villages which comprise the Kharar district, and superintends the work in the five sub-districts which are in charge of Indian Preachers. Work is divided between teaching village Christians, evangelistic work among non-Christians, and organising conferences, retreats, and summer schools for the area. In winter he conducts camping tours among the villages, in summer he makes day trips to villages. The majority are Sikhs, many of them refugees from Pakistan, but also a large group of Hindus. Christians are mainly from (the) depressed classes. Spoken languages are Punjabi and Urdu, but Hindi is now being taught in schools.”
Appointed Minister of Christ Church, Chandigarh, 1958-1966
Flood Relief Instructor and Organiser for the Government of the Punjab, 1956-1967
Secretary then Moderator (1965) of the Ambala Church Council of the United Church of Northern India.
Secretary of the North West India Christian Council.
Secretary of the Missionary Language Board and Superintendent for the Hidustani Course.
Secretary of the Inter-Church Committee of the Chandigarh Christian Church.
Awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE), 1967
Awarded Citation for Meritorious Service (CMS) by the Government of the Punjab.
Appointed Minister of Morrison Memorial Church, Dehra Dun, 1966-1968
Resigned from Mission service, mid 1969
President of the Leprosy Mission, 1969-1979, attending the International Conference in 1979.
Hillsborough, Auckland Presbytery, 2 October 1969 — resigned 15 November 1974
Member of the Overseas Missions Committee from 1969, and Convener, 1974-1975
Chairman of the Joint Interim Board for Mission (Presbyterian / Methodist) 1975-1976
Greymouth District Union Parish, Westland Presbytery, 9 September 1976
Assistant Minister (part-time) St George’s Takapuna, North Shore, North Shore Presbytery, 24 March 1983
Moderator of North Shore Presbytery, 1987
Minister Emeritus, North Shore Presbytery, 31 August 1987
Date of Birth27 January 1922Date of Death7 August 2016Biography- born 27 January 1922 Jagadhri, India
- son of the Rev Thomas Ewart RIDDLE and Isabel Milne, grandson of the Rev PJ Riddle
- married (1) 1 December 1948 Marion Matheson McKENZIE born 13 April 1923 Stratford, died 8 April 1965 Chandigarh India
- daughter of Rev James William McKENZIE and Jessie Elizabeth HARRINGTON (married 1919)
- trained as a teacher at Auckland and Dunedin Training Colleges, also passed her Junior State Nursing Examinations.
- daughter of Rev James William McKENZIE and Jessie Elizabeth HARRINGTON (married 1919)
- married (2) 12 October 1966 Desma Jessie CAMPBELL, born 12 October 1930, died 8 September 2004 (refer entry for Sr Desma Campbell)
- died 7 August 2016, aged 95 years, after a brief illness
Doug educated at Woodstock Mission Boarding School India (7 years), Takapuna Grammar School (2½ years), and Auckland University where he gained his Batchelor of Arts Degree (1946).
Doug’s Royal New Zealand Air Force “Wings” awarded at Advanced Flying Training School at Wigram, 1945.
Knox Theological Hall, Dunedin, 1946-1948
Appointed to staff of Punjab Mission, 15 November 1948
Licensed by Presbytery of Auckland 17 November 1948
Ordained for Overseas Missions Service, 9 December 1948; both sailed for India, Kharar 23 December 1948, arrived 31 January 1949
“Own Missionary” of Knox Church, Dunedin
Punjab Mission Language School 1949-1953 (Punjabi, Hindustani and Urdu)
Appointed District Superintendent of the Kharar District of the United Church of Northern India, 1949
“Rev Riddle does evangelistic work among the 250,000 people living in the 600 villages which comprise the Kharar district, and superintends the work in the five sub-districts which are in charge of Indian Preachers. Work is divided between teaching village Christians, evangelistic work among non-Christians, and organising conferences, retreats, and summer schools for the area. In winter he conducts camping tours among the villages, in summer he makes day trips to villages. The majority are Sikhs, many of them refugees from Pakistan, but also a large group of Hindus. Christians are mainly from (the) depressed classes. Spoken languages are Punjabi and Urdu, but Hindi is now being taught in schools.”
Appointed Minister of Christ Church, Chandigarh, 1958-1966
Flood Relief Instructor and Organiser for the Government of the Punjab, 1956-1967
Secretary then Moderator (1965) of the Ambala Church Council of the United Church of Northern India.
Secretary of the North West India Christian Council.
Secretary of the Missionary Language Board and Superintendent for the Hidustani Course.
Secretary of the Inter-Church Committee of the Chandigarh Christian Church.
Awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE), 1967
Awarded Citation for Meritorious Service (CMS) by the Government of the Punjab.
Appointed Minister of Morrison Memorial Church, Dehra Dun, 1966-1968
Resigned from Mission service, mid 1969
President of the Leprosy Mission, 1969-1979, attending the International Conference in 1979.
Hillsborough, Auckland Presbytery, 2 October 1969 — resigned 15 November 1974
Member of the Overseas Missions Committee from 1969, and Convener, 1974-1975
Chairman of the Joint Interim Board for Mission (Presbyterian / Methodist) 1975-1976
Greymouth District Union Parish, Westland Presbytery, 9 September 1976
Assistant Minister (part-time) St George’s Takapuna, North Shore, North Shore Presbytery, 24 March 1983
Moderator of North Shore Presbytery, 1987
Minister Emeritus, North Shore Presbytery, 31 August 1987
Riddle, Douglas Milne. Presbyterian Research Centre, accessed 19/04/2025, https://pcanzarchives.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/112551
