Lya, Bill, Lysette and Peter Riley

This photograph shows Lya and Bill Riley with their children Lysette and Peter. This is a copy, but the original photograph was taken in about 1952.

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. Their first child Lysette was born in January 1950, and Peter followed in December 1951.

Family life was busy and had its challenges, but Lya strove to maintain her independence. She worked briefly as a cleaner and as the diet cook at the hospital, then used her clerical skills to build a career at the Bonus Bonds Service.

Bill died suddenly in 1976 so was not able to see his family grow. Lya now has six grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. Of her parents’ nine siblings, only two on each side had descendants, and Lya has by far the most.

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 Unpublished biography of Lya Kleinmann, born 27 March 1921 Vienna.