Born: 11 April, 1884 Clyde, New Zealand
Mother: Harriet Gye (nee Asquith) Father: (Charles) Wong Ah Gye
Died: 26 February, 1944

Married: Catherine McDonald 28 April, 1913
Children: John Charles Patrick Joseph Gye, Henry Stanley Batholemew Gye

Married: Alice Curbage 9 August, 1922
No Children

Common Law Wife: Lillian Bracchi née Davis
Children: David Barry Gye

Robert spent his childhood in New Zealand in the small town of Clyde, the ninth child of a large family. The Alexandra Area School Records show that he started school at the age of five and continued at school until he was fifteen in 1899, a not inconsiderable education for the times. He left to school and began working for his father, Wong Gye, in his father's market garden in Clyde. His occupation on the Otago Electoral roll of 1906 is listed as 'miner' and the Stones Otago/Southland directory in 1911 lists his occupation as 'groome'. It was shortly after this that he followed his older brothers, Albert and George, and emigrated to Australia.

Robert came to Melbourne and boarded with the McDonald family at 32 Cumberland Place in the Little Lon' area of the city. He married the McDonald's daughter Catherine on the 28 April, 1913. They had two children, John Charles Patrick Joseph Gye and Robert Henry Stanley Batholemew Gye.

Catherine died in July 1919, possibly as a result of a backyard abortion, and Robert had a brief affair the following year with Tess Hayes, a nearby neighbour and friend of the family. As a result, Marie Hayes was conceived out of wedlock. Robert had little contact with Tess and Marie however Marie recalls that he always paid his mother maintainance for her as a child.

By 1921, Robert had purchased and moved to 4 Ivan Street, Nth Fitzroy. At the age of 43, on the 9 August 1922, he married Alice Curbage, a 38 year old spinster who was also living at 4 Ivan Street at the time of the wedding. However, this marriage didn't last and Alice is believed to have returned to Adelaide. They were never divorced though which meant that Robert was unable to marry again.

Robert remained in Ivan Street until 1925 when he moved to 79 Faraday Street, Carlton. He kept ownership of the house at Ivan street and later rented the house to Lillian and Charlie Bracchi, friends made during his time living in Little Lon'. He owned a number of houses during his life though it's unclear where he got the money to acquire them. Until 1929, when he purchased a coffee stall at 229 Exhibition Street (next to His Majesty's Theatre), there is little evidence of what he actually did for a living after his arrival in Australia at the start of World War One. His occupation on his marriage certificate to Alice Curbage is listed as 'chef' but there are few other records. There is some suggestion that he was involved in some criminal activity, such as the black market and drug dealing, but he appears not to have a police record.

After the death of Charlie Bracchi in 1931, Robert formed a common-law relationship with Lillian Bracchi, his tenant at 4 Ivan Street. They moved to Lygon Street, Brunswick and it was here that David Robert Gye was conceived. They then spent a very short time in Collingwood, near Victoria Park. Around this time, Robert bought a newsagency in Elgin Street, Carlton and the family (Robert, Lillian, Johnnie, June and David) moved to The Grove, Coburg.

At the beginning of World War Two, the family went to live above the newsagency in Carlton. Petrol rationing meant that the trip from Coburg each day was becoming too expensive. David recalls that the storeroom at the back of the building in a former stable was like a treasure trove of illicit goods, lending support to the idea that Robert was involved in some kind of black market operation. But Robert's health was starting to deteriorate and the family moved back to Coburg to a house in Linsey Street.

Robert died in 1944 of pulmonary embolos (a blood clot) following a hernia operation at St George's Private Hospital in Kew. Due to the shortage of plots available in cemetaries during the war, he was buried alongside his first wife, Catherine McDonald, in Coburg Cemetary. He was aged 60. He left Lillian with a number of properties, many of which she gave away to family, and a business which she sold to buy a delicatessan in Middle Park.