Bill and Lya Riley

This reproduction photograph of Bill and Lya Riley was taken in Dunedin on their wedding day. The photograph is part of a collection of objects from Lya Riley (née Kleinmann), which materialises aspects of her childhood in Austria, experiences during the Second World War (1939-1945), and life in New Zealand.

Lya and Bill met in London after the Second World War (1939-1945). Lya had escaped from Austria in 1939 and moved to Hampstead with her mother Eugenie. She joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service – the women’s branch of the British Army – in 1941 and was stationed in various places around Britain throughout the war.

Bill, a Londoner, joined the British Army in 1934 and worked as a cook. He was interned in Singapore and Burma for three years during the war, and returned to London suffering from malaria. Bill immigrated to New Zealand in 1947 to aid his recovery, and Lya followed a year later. They were married in Dunedin on 22 October 1948 and quickly purchased an old Victorian cottage at 247 North Road.

References:

• Riley, Lysette and Helen Riley-Duddin, 2021. Conversations and emails with curators Katie Cooper and Stephanie Gibson.
• Riley, Lysette, 2021. Unpublished biography of Lya Kleinmann, born 27 March 1921 Vienna.