Peter William Riley was born in Dunedin in 1910, the son of Professor F Radcliffe Riley, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He was among the first day pupils at John McGlashan College when it opened in 1918 and was a prefect and a member of the school cricket and rugby teams. He entered the Otago Medical School and graduated in 1934. He was house surgeon at Dunedin Hospital. With a postgraduate scholarship he studied in Melbourne and London, becoming FRCS and MRCOG. He returned to Dunedin as resident surgical officer in the late 1930s. During the war years Riley served with the 3rd New Zealand Division in the Solomon Islands with the rank of captain. On returning to Dunedin he decided to enter general practice, initially in Dunedin and after 1946 at Lauder in Central Otago. He worked for the Vincent Hospital Board covering a large, sparsely populated area. He was superintendent at Ranfurly Hospital for a period. In 1954 he returned to Dunedin and worked in general practice until 1980. He was a quiet, self-effacing man who always did his best for his patients. He was a keen fly fisherman with a love of the Lake Hawera area where for a time his father owned Timaru Creek Station. He was proud of his association with McGlashan College. His wife, Kathleen, died four years before him. He died on 13 April 1994, survived by three sons.