Elizabeth Riley
Topics: Timaru Creek, Hāwea, farming, schooling, Lake Hāwea dam
Francis Melville Riley spent holidays at the remote Timaru Creek Station and eventually moved there in the early 1930s to farm the 6400 acres and manage the 8000 sheep. He married Janet Paterson, of Timaru, and raised 6 children on this remote Station.
Liz Riley, their oldest child, recalls her early memories of living at Timaru Creek. She talks about hand milking cows, visitors, weather, the rambling homestead, correspondence school and musterers coming for breakfast at 4am.
In the 1950s, Lake Hāwea was raised approximately 6 metres to assist in supplying water for electricity generation. The Riley family were forced to abandon Timaru Creek Station as it was submerged underwater. Liz talks about the impact the raising of the lake had on her family.
Interviewed by Liz Holland
From left to right: Susan Janet Riley, Denis Melville Riley, Timothy Derek Riley, Josephine Beatrice Riley, William Ratcliffe Riley, Elizabeth Helen Riley, Margaret Janet Riley, Francis Melville Riley
From left to right: Timothy, Josephine, Denis, Susan
If you would like to access unedited interviews, abstracts or transcripts to further your research, please get in touch here.
All rights to the recordings on this website, including the rights to copy, publish, broadcast and perform, are reserved. Written permission is required for any use of this material.
