He left home when he was 19 years old and found work milking cows on a dairy farm near Pukekohe.

In 1906, Lye married Charlotte Louie Preece from Kaponga, and the couple went on to have 10 children.

[1] His younger brother, Samuel Charles Gale Lye (1884–1937),[2] was also a dairy farmer[3][4] and also stood for the Liberals in several elections.

[5] He represented the Waikato electorate from 1922 to 1925, when he was defeated by Stewart Reid of the Reform Party.

[7] Lye remained living at Pukekura until his death at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton on 3 October 1949.