Lyle was born near Smiths Falls, Canada West (now Ontario), the son of Samuel Lyle and Mary Moore,[1] a family that had emigrated from Ireland in 1848.[2] He was educated at Smiths Falls and Morrisburg. He worked as a cabinet maker in Morrisburg and then went to Manitoba in 1886,[1] and returned in 1891 after a period in British Columbia.[2] Lyle was a farmer, and a breeder of purebred Clydesdales. He served on the town council for Lyleton.